High frequency electrosurgery

Introduction
Among surgical equipment the electrosurgical devices are probably the most commonly used and also most useful. High frequency electrosurgery is a surgical technique related to Diathermy, which is a clinical method that uses high frequency electromagnetic currents for clinical therapy and has surgical applications. Electrocauterization is a different concept from electrosurgery, but is still an important medical application of diathermy. The two are often mistakenly confused because of the use of the electrocoagulation (electrosurgical method). Electrosurgery uses alternating current to directly heat the tissue itself. Unlike electrocauterization that uses direct current to heat a probe to a glowing temperature to cauterize the tissue through heat conduction.

Biophysics in High Frequency Electrosurgery


Figure 1 - Applications of different current frequencies

Electrosurgery has been described as high-frequency electrical current passed through tissue to create a specific clinical effect. The frequency used must be sufficient to cross the tissues but without activating the muscles, such case would cause muscles contraction preventing the surgeon to work and it is likely to cause the patient's heart to stop. Electrical current in biological tissues is due to connectivity of ionic interstitial fluids. To have an electric current there must be an electric circuit, which is an uninterrupted pathways of flowing electrons

Risks and Advantages
"Instead of the classic scalpel, surgeons can also operate with an electroscalpel. A significant advantage to this technique is that while a cut is being made, blood vessels are closed off and hemorrhaging eliminated. Now another advantage may be added as well: a German-Hungarian research team has developed a mass-spectrometry-based technique by which tissues can be analyzed during a surgical procedure."