Enhancing Intraoperative Tissue Identification: Investigating a Smart Electrosurgical Knife's Functionality During...

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Surgical Technology
• Optical Spectroscopy

Background:

• Achieving negative margins during cancer surgery is challenging.
• A smart electrosurgical knife with optical fibers allows real-time margin assessment using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy.
• Investigating the thermal effects on tissue sensing is crucial for device reliability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the thermal effect of a smart electrosurgical knife on tissue sensing during intraoperative margin assessment.
• To evaluate the device's performance and accuracy after electrosurgery.
• To assess the knife's capability for real-time tissue characterization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized porcine tissues and phantoms with varying fat-to-water ratios (F/W-ratio).
• Measured F/W-ratio using the smart electrosurgical knife before and after 14 minutes of electrosurgery.
• Performed layered tissue analysis to assess depth-sensing capabilities.

Main Results:

• Electrosurgical knife temperatures exceeded 400 °C during tissue ablation.
• 14 minutes of electrosurgery did not affect the device's accurate F/W-ratio detection.
• The knife demonstrated real-time tissue detection and predicted fat content 4 mm ahead.

Conclusions:

• The smart electrosurgical knife design shows promise for intraoperative tissue detection.
• The device can reliably assess tissue characteristics even after thermal exposure.
• It has potential as a valuable tool for surgical margin assessment.