Swiss Army Electrocautery

Team Electrosurgery:
Sonya Makhni
Amrita Karambelkar
Sudha Guttikonda
Vicki Lee

D-lab Health
Spring 2010
 Presentation Outline
Motivation and Background
Nicaraguan Rehabilitation Center surgery
Electrosurgery vs. electrocautery

Our Design
Design Strategy
Specifications
Demonstration
Validation

Future Work
 Motivation
• Nicaraguan rehabilitation hospital used electrosurgery to cut
tissue and coagulate blood during surgery

• Open circuit caused severe burns in patients as electricity

found new path to ground through patient's body
• Cause of circuit failure: overuse; mishandling; normal
wear and tear; voltage fluctuations
 Electrosurgery vs. Electrocautery

Properties Electric current passed Electric current passes

through patient's body through metal parts,
producing heat
Uses Cutting tissue and sealing Sealing blood vessels
blood vessels
Issues Relies on AC power; risk of Cutting not possible
open circuit because of damage to
surrounding tissue
 Electrosurgery
Swiss Army
Disposable Plug-in
Electrocautery
Electrocautery
Safety

Loss of ability
All-in-one to both cut
feature and
coagulate,
but portable

Autoclaveable Tips

Autoclavable
materials

Battery-powered
Electrocautery Pens with
Disposable Tips

Scalpel and Gauze

Cost
 Our Design
Goal: Create multi-function autoclavable electrocautery tips
and encourage the use of electrocautery over electrosurgery

Multi-function tip includes:

1. Antenna extension: Brass pipes of different diameter slide
into one another to collapse and extend the tip from 2-5
inches; doctors can use the same tip for any depth into the
body

2. Scalpel-Cautery: Dual-function; cutting and coagulating with

swiveling scalpel and cauterizing tip
 Design Specifications

All materials can be autoclaved (120 C, 15 psi, 20 min)

Can be extended from 2 inches to 5 inches
Temperature should reach at least 1200 F to cauterize
Preferably in less than 5 seconds
Power must be supplied by a battery
 Cost Analysis

Market Prices
High Temp Tip: $9.40
Low Temp Tip: $7.80
Elongated Tip: $15

Our Design:
Commercial Tip Base $7.80
Brass tubing $0.84
(Solder + Insulation) $0.70
Scalpel $0.20

Total = $9.54
 Design Parameters

Portable

Cost-effective

Safe

Multi-functional
 Impact on Global Health
More patients can be helped

Reduces risk to patients

Faulty electrosurgery machinery causes delays

in surgery

Reduces overall cost

Transition to electrocautery:
Facilitated by ease-of-use and
safety of new tip
 Preliminary Tests

Control (Bovie) tip Our tip glowed red with

glowed red with 2.8 A 2.8 A at 1.5 V after 2
at 1.5 V after 2 sec sec

Control Our Design

 Preliminary Tests

• Conducted heating tests on scalpel

• Became warm after 30 sec at 3.6 A and 0.5 V
• Possible cause: heat capacity of stainless steel too high;
large surface area dissipates too much heat
•Possible solutions
-Reduce surface area of blade
-Use alternative autoclavable materials such as
copper coated with chrome/gold , silicon
 Future Tests
Test the tip in an autoclave
Measure the exact temperature of the tip
Test the lifespan of a tip:
Corrosion of tip and possible coating
Battery life
More user-friendly to switch cut/coagulate modes
Test different materials:
Cheaper, requiring less energy, non-stick, etc.
Other tip designs:
Heated scalpel tip
Bendable tip
Evacuate fumes
 Regulatory Pathway

– 510K

– Predicate Devices:
• Standard Bovie Tips

– Manufacturing:
• Local Assembly
 Acknowledgements
Jose, Anna, Nathan, Ryan, Amit, Ted
Dennis
Bernard
Ailis
Varsha
Gary Gogolin
Professor Kimerling