Pulsed Laser and Electrosurgical Handpiece for Bleeding Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical laser technologies lack the ability to concurrently control bleeding and perform precision incising and ablation with minimal damage to healthy tissues, often requiring separate instruments and resulting in significant collateral tissue damage.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that utilize a pulsed surgical laser beam with a second energy source for preemptive haemostasis, delivering energy before tissue evaporation to seal blood vessels, minimizing tissue coagulation and necrosis, and allowing for precise control of bleeding without physical contact.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a laser beam is used for precision incising and ablation, then surgical accuracy and retention of healthy tissues is improved, but control of bleeding is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines laser incising/ablation capability with electrosurgical haemostasis capability into a single handpiece device. The laser delivery system and electrosurgical electrodes are integrated so that both functions can be performed through one instrument, eliminating the need for separate haemostasis devices and improving bleeding control during laser surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The handpiece device is designed to perform multiple functions: laser delivery for tissue incision and ablation, and electrosurgical energy delivery for haemostasis. This multi-functional design allows the single device to address both precision cutting and bleeding control requirements in surgical procedures.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If separate haemostasis devices are used with laser cutting device, then control of bleeding is improved, but device complexity and instrument changes are increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates electrosurgical electrodes directly into the laser handpiece, combining two separate devices into one. This eliminates the need for instrument changes between laser cutting and haemostasis procedures, reducing surgical complexity and improving workflow efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The handpiece is designed as a universal device that can perform both laser delivery and electrosurgical haemostasis through its multiple functional components. This multi-functionality reduces the number of separate instruments needed and eliminates frequent instrument changes during surgery.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If contact mode haemostasis devices are used, then control of bleeding is improved, but damage to surrounding healthy tissues is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces contact-mode mechanical haemostasis devices with a laser-based system that delivers energy remotely through optical fiber. This non-contact approach allows precise energy delivery to target vessels without physical contact, reducing mechanical trauma and collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissues.
Solution Approach 2:
The laser system delivers energy locally to specific blood vessels through focused beam delivery, creating precise coagulation zones only where needed. This localized energy delivery minimizes thermal spread and collateral damage to adjacent healthy tissues compared to broader contact-based haemostasis methods.
4Manufacturing precision
If laser intensity is increased for better ablation, then incising capability is improved, but tissue coagulation and necrosis spread is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The laser system operates in pulsed mode rather than continuous mode, delivering energy in controlled intervals. This periodic action allows heat dissipation between pulses, preventing excessive thermal accumulation and limiting coagulation spread to the immediate treatment zone while maintaining effective ablation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses wavelength-specific laser radiation that is selectively absorbed by target tissues. By choosing appropriate wavelengths and controlling pulse parameters, the system achieves precise incising while limiting thermal diffusion and coagulation necrosis spread to minimal extents around the treatment site.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables enhanced surgical haemostasis with reduced collateral damage to healthy tissues, allowing for precise incising and ablating with improved control over bleeding, applicable to a variety of tissues and surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a pulsed surgical laser beam to incise and ablate living tissues
Implementation Method 2
delivering energy before tissue evaporation to seal blood vessels
Implementation Method 3
a separately controlled second energy effecting haemostasis by providing a contact-less means of depositing the second energy in a given spot only into a limited volume of tissue
Implementation Method 4
The extent of tissue coagulation is determined by the laser wavelength and the intensity of the laser radiation
Data Source
AI summary
A method and laser surgical devices for surgical incising and ablating living tissues using laser beam and effecting enhanced surgical haemostasis concurrently with incising and ablating are disclosed. The method requires a surgical laser beam that is pulsed and is highly absorbed in living tissues and enhanced haemostatic action is achieved using along with the surgical laser beam energy, delivered in pulses, another separately controlled energy effecting haemostasis, by applying the second energy in any and every given spot of incising and ablating in a preemptive and focused manner, which minimizes haemostasis-related damage to surrounding tissues. In one embodiment a heated gas jet from a hollow core optical fiber transmitting the surgical laser beam is used. In other embodiments an ancillary laser radiation at a wavelength chosen specifically to minimize haemostasis-related damage to tissue is utilized for preemptive and controlled haemostatic effect.