The Effect of the Design of Surgical Electrodes on the Formation of Sparking Enhanced Burns

Electrocautery is a safe and effective method of hemostasis during cutaneous surgery. Despite the unquestionable benefits, electrocautery sparks in the surgical field represent a significant fire risk that can be eliminated by clarifying the causation and conditions of their development. Apart from the experimental methods, computer modeling is proven to be an effective approach to improve the performance of electrocautery. This paper is dealing with the design of electrodes to prevent burns during standard procedures. Simulations were carried out by using the comsol simulation package for various electrode configurations (cylinder-cylinder, sphere-sphere, sphere-cylinder, and cylinder-sphere) representing shapes of surgical electrodes. The primary goal was to determine the location where sparking starts. The obtained simulation results agree well with the experimental data taken from the literature supporting that the sparking formation is strongly affected by the electrode configuration. It was found that sparking occurs most easily when both electrodes are cylindrical. Also, the sparking mechanism depends on electrical asymmetry that results in undesirable direct current burns. Results presented here can be used to establish practices for the safe use of the electrocautery devices and to prevent injury to patients and staff.