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BOVlE SPECIALIST ELECTROSURGICAL UNIT
5. Experiments in Electrosurgery
Ball Electrode
Placing the ball in contact with the meat and
setting COAGULATING POWER at 6 will produce
areas and depths of necrosis which are related to
time applied and power setting. Hold the ball elec-
P
trode in contact with the meat and apply power for 5
seconds. Move to a fresh area and apply power for
10 seconds. Finally, apply power in another loca-
tion, in line with the other two test spots, for 1
second. Cut through the three coagulated areas
with a scalpel. Observe the difference in coagula-
tion. Longer time applications cause larger areas of
tissue destruction.
To achieve controlled superficial destruction,
try "brushing" the surface of the meat with a ball
electrode over a predetermined area. Section and
note the depth of penetration as evidenced by the
blanching. Vary the amount of power and speed of
moving the ball, noting on sections, how the depth
of destruction can be varied from afew thousandths
of an inch to any moderate depth required.
COAGULATE WITH BALL ELECTRODE
Monopolar Forceps or Hemostat
In techniques involving the use of monopolar
forceps or hemostat, use the coagulating graphic as
a guide if the blade sizes compare in size to the
pictorial. Micro forceps must have the power greatly
reduced. Use the needle electrode setting as a start-
.
ing point. Monopolar forceps usually use bi-terminal
technique. Experiment with tissue grip, power and
time variations to become familiar with their use.
Hemostat techniques are similar to using mono-
polar forceps. Use a hemostat, insulated to the
operator, with bi-terminal operation. Again, exper-
iment until the required power setting is found for
the blade size used.
Bipolar Forceps
Footswitch controlled bipolar forceps can be
used with the Specialist. Bipolar forceps construc-
tion is such that one blade is the active electrode,
the other blade the indifferent electrode. This
arrangement has a small coagulation current path
and therefore, less resistance to current flow, lower
power is usually required. The white jack is for the
active electrode, the black jack is for the indifferent
electrode.
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