Optical Imaging Feedback for Adaptive Electrosurgical Tissue Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrosurgical procedures face challenges in determining the appropriate closure force for tissue sealing, leading to potential tissue damage due to insufficient or excessive pressure, as well as steam generation, which can cause unwanted tissue popping and poor seal integrity.
Innovation Solution
An electrosurgical system that uses visualization feedback, such as optical imaging, to identify tissue type and parameters, adjusting closure force and energy delivery based on real-time data to achieve target tissue pressure and prevent damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a single common RF electromagnetic energy waveform application process is applied to different tissue types, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision and reliability of tissue sealing deteriorate due to inability to account for different tissue characteristics
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the RF energy waveform parameters based on real-time optical imaging feedback about tissue type and characteristics. The energy delivery is not static but adapts continuously to the specific tissue being treated, allowing a single device to handle multiple tissue types with optimized parameters for each.
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates optical imaging sensors that provide real-time feedback about tissue characteristics, which is then used to adjust the RF energy waveform parameters. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables the system to automatically adapt to different tissue types without requiring manual intervention or complex user knowledge.
2Device complexity
If electrical feedback alone is used to adjust energy therapy delivery, then the device complexity is reduced, but the measurement precision and reliability of tissue characterization deteriorate because electrical feedback alone is insufficient to distinguish between different tissue types
Solution Approach 1:
The system merges optical imaging feedback with electrical feedback mechanisms to create a comprehensive tissue characterization system. The optical imaging provides structural and compositional information that complements the electrical properties, enabling more accurate tissue identification and energy parameter selection.
Solution Approach 2:
The optical imaging system acts as an intermediary that translates visual tissue characteristics into adjusted energy delivery parameters. This intermediary layer processes optical information and converts it into appropriate RF waveform settings, bridging the gap between visual tissue assessment and energy delivery optimization.
3Productivity
If steam generated within tissue exits at high speed causing tissue popping, then the energy delivery speed is improved, but the harmful factors increase due to mechanical pressure and potential damage to vessel wall
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses optical imaging to detect the formation and behavior of steam within tissue during energy delivery. By monitoring steam characteristics visually, the system can adjust energy parameters to harness the steam generation process while preventing harmful tissue popping, converting what would be a harmful byproduct into a useful indicator for controlling the energy delivery process.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces purely mechanical or electrical monitoring of tissue response with optical imaging to visualize steam formation and tissue behavior in real-time. This optical monitoring allows for more precise control of energy delivery parameters to prevent mechanical damage from steam explosions while maintaining effective energy transfer.
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
The system ensures consistent and effective tissue sealing by tailoring energy delivery to specific tissue types, reducing complications and improving procedural outcomes by minimizing tissue damage and ensuring robust seals.
Implementation Method 1
An approach to electrosurgery may include or use an electrosurgical device with an radio frequency (RF) or other electromagnetic energy delivery system with nearly instantaneous feedback about one or more conditions (e.g., tissue impedance, phase angle of therapy power delivery, or the like) at the target site
Implementation Method 2
The forceps can utilize electrical energy in the gripping assembly. Electrosurgical sealing forceps can further include or use an energy device such as RF, ultrasonic, and microwave vessel sealing devices
Implementation Method 3
a forceps can be utilized such as for laparoscopic surgery... The forceps can clamp tissue, and elastin or collagen of the clamped tissue can be melted by the energy device
Implementation Method 4
For example, the present inventors have recognized, among other things, that a carotid artery should have electrical therapy power applied relatively more slowly, e.g., for vessel sealing, while a renal artery can tolerate faster power application without creating tissue "popping" problems. Such tissue popping is a phenomena in which steam generated within the tissue exits
Data Source
AI summary
A system for imaging and treating tissue can include or use an imaging sensor adapted to receive imaging information from a location internal to a human or animal subject, a tissue therapy output for applying a tissue therapy to tissue at the location internal to the subject, and controller circuitry, comprising signal-processing circuitry configured for image-processing the imaging information to determine a structure or other characteristic at or near the location internal to the subject, and to tailor a parameter or algorithm, controlling the tissue therapy output, at least in part based on the imaging information.