The effect of argon gas flow during electrosurgery

Electrosurgery has been used for over fifty years. Recently a new modality has been introduced: gas-enhanced electrosurgery. A flow of argon gas is blown along the active electrode. For clinical application the temperature distribution in the tissue is of interest. The effect of argon was investigated using two methods. (1) Visualizing the temperature distribution in phantom tissue using Schlieren techniques. (2) Tissue experiments with macroscopic evaluation of the lesions. The electrodes were moved over the tissue surface with different parameter settings for speed (1-4 mm/s), gas now (0, 5 or 9 l/min.), gas-outlet positioning (6, 13 and 21 mm above the tissue) and depth of the electrode in the tissue (0-4 mm). The extent of the coagulation zone seemed to be depend most on gas flow rate in combination with power and the distance of the gas-outlet. Argon gas-enhanced electrodes showed to be especially effective just touching the tissue to obtain a superficial coagulation of the surrounding tissue