Publication: Design and analysis of sonic scalpel
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Date
2023-07-01
Authors
Shahrezzat Bin Shahidan
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Abstract
The Ultrasonic scalpel is a widely employed medical instrument utilized in surgical procedures for the purpose of tissue incision and haemostasis. In this study, a new concept of Sonic scalpel was proposed through the idea of combining the thermal element (Kanthal A-1 Wire) and mechanical element (Coreless DC motor) as one complete system in order mimicking the functionality of Ultrasonic scalpel. The extent of lateral thermal spread exhibited by the prototype of the Sonic scalpel will be assessed in comparison to a commercially available coagulator pen in order to evaluate its functional capabilities.
The development of the Sonic scalpel was designed in SolidWorks. After completing the fabrication of the Sonic Scalpel, a comprehensive evaluation was conducted on a chicken skin sample using the fully assembled system. The purpose was to establish the minimum threshold for cauterization and cutting under dynamic conditions, considering the influence of the mechanical component. The dissection site image captured through the Leica S6 E microscope was utilized for image processing in MATLAB software, aiming to enhance the clarity of thermal spread observation and enable precise measurements.
The thermal element of the Sonic Scalpel, operating at a power of 16 W, demonstrated a minimum baseline temperature of 149°C, while the mechanical element operated at 0.37 W. The dissection process resulted in a 10 mm cut length, which took approximately 32 seconds. Following the dissection, the mean thermal spread on one side of the tissue was measured to be 1.068 mm for the Sonic Scalpel and 1.48 mm for the Commercial Coagulator Pen. These findings indicate that the Sonic Scalpel exhibited a lower degree of thermal diffusion within the tissue compared to the Commercial Coagulator Pen.