ESU, Cutlery, Shavers

ESU, Cutlery, Shavers

ESU, Cutlery, Shavers  Electrosurgery is the use of high frequency electrical energy in the radio transmission frequency (RF) band applied directly to tissue for cutting and destroying tissue and stopping blood flow.  Electrosurgery is used on nearly every soft tissue in the human body. The energy introduced by electrosurgery reacts with water molecules within the cells of the tissue being treated. During surgery the tissue and blood vessels are cut, which causes bleeding. To prevent too much blood loss and to keep the operating field free of excess blood, electrosurgical units are used.

Different modes of operation can be set. The monopolar mode (single electrode) is used for cutting and coagulation, the bipolar mode (forceps like electrode) is used mainly for destroying tissue.  Electrosurgery is not the same as electrocautery. Electrocautery uses direct current to heat electrodes that are used to produce coagulation.

Electrosurgery, by contrast, uses radio frequency (RF) alternating current to heat the tissue by RF induced intracellular oscillation of ionized molecules that result in an elevation of intracellular temperature. When the intracellular temperature reaches 60 degrees C, instantaneous cell death occurs. If tissue is heated to 60-99 degrees C, the simultaneous processes of tissue desiccation (dehydration) and protein coagulation occur. If the intracellular temperature rapidly reaches 100 degrees C, the intracellular contents undergo a liquid to gas conversion, massive volumetric expansion, and resulting explosive vaporization.

Appropriately applied with electro surgical forceps, desiccation and coagulation result in the occlusion of blood vessels and halting of bleeding. While the process is technically a process of electrocoagulation, the term “electrocautery” is sometimes loosely, nontechnically and incorrectly used to describe it. The process of vaporization can be used to ablate tissue targets, or, by linear extension, used to transect or cut tissue. While the processes of vaporization/ cutting and desiccation/coagulation are best accomplished with relatively low voltage, continuous or near continuous waveforms, the process of fulguration is performed with relatively high voltage modulated waveforms

Showing all 2 results