Settings and the Plasma Field
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ArthroCare® offers systems that have the capability to perform tissue ablation (i.e. tissue removal), and hemostasis. In medical devices operating in saline type environments, the electrical excitation can range from low-voltage, non-plasma-forming conditions (causing tissue coagulation, for example) to higher voltage plasma-forming conditions that can cut or excise tissue rapidly with minimal untargeted tissue necrosis.
Radiofrequency excitation used for Coblation® devices most commonly range from 100 to 500 kHz. Plasma-forming, or Coblation, radiofrequency controller settings are used for removing tissue in a defined area, while non-plasma-forming settings are used for performing procedures in which tissue shrinkage or tissue coagulation is the goal.
The Plasma Field
The plasma field is an ionized gas consisting of free electrons, ions and excited radicals. Though the electrons contained in the plasma field are relatively energetic, the ions and neutral particles in the plasma remain relatively cool, and many of the fragments are chemically reactive.
In contact with biological tissue, these plasma particles are sufficiently (re)active to disintegrate organic molecules within the tissue into elementary molecules. In this manner, the target tissue is effectively dissolved or volatilized in a gentle fashion (at low temperature) inducing minimal or no damage to surrounding healthy tissue.
Research has shown that electrical discharges formed around electrodes submerged in isotonic saline produces strong optical emissions from the sodium D-lines as well as from excited hydroxyl (OH) and atomic hydrogen (H) radicals.
The sodium D-line emission is usually dominant and is responsible for the characteristic yellow glow associated with these discharges.
