JPH0316862B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an active electrode for an electric scalpel.

Electric scalpels are indispensable for surgical procedures, and are used in a wide range of areas because they are not only effective for incising the skin, separating muscles and cartilage, but also for hemostasis and coagulation.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an electric scalpel device to which the present invention is applied. They are connected via the return electrode cord 6 and are also connected to the active electrode 8 via the active cord 7, and a high-frequency current flows between the active electrode 8 and the return electrode 5 via the subject 9. Surgery is now being performed on the surgical body.

However, in the conventional active electrode 8 made of metal, blood or body fluids adhere to its tip during incision or coagulation, and as a result, the cutting edge gradually becomes dull, and deposits are often removed during surgery. The need to do so significantly hindered the smooth progress of the surgery.

For this reason, attempts have been made to avoid the above-mentioned adhesion by coating the surface of the active electrode with a relatively lubricating film such as a fluororesin.

However, because a large current flows intensively in the part of the tissue that the active electrode comes into contact with, and the electric density is extremely high, pinholes occur in the coating film such as the fluororesin at an early stage, and eventually it peels off. However, the desired objective could not be achieved.

Based on these facts, we first developed a conductive active film with a coating that has lubricity, that is, the property of preventing the adhesion of blood, etc., has high heat resistance, and does not cause pinholes or peeling even when electricity is concentrated. The appearance of Electrode was strongly requested.

The present invention was made in response to such a demand, and departs from the conventional concept of covering the active electrode with a coating film having lubricity, and instead makes the active electrode itself possess lubricity. Boronite has been developed to be superior in heat resistance and strength to conventional metal active electrodes, and to satisfy all requirements such as having sufficient conductivity necessary for active electrodes for electric scalpels. The present invention attempts to construct an active electrode from a ceramic composition of Ride and graphite.

Both boron nitride (BN) and graphite (C) contained in the composition of the present invention have hexagonal crystal structures and are quite similar in properties, but the former has a hexagonal crystal structure. Despite being a nonconductor, the latter is a good electrical conductor, but on the other hand, the former has much better lubricity than the latter. However, taking these into consideration, a composition formed by hot-pressing a mixture of individual granules at the required ratio so as to be sufficiently averaged,
It is expected to be suitable as a constituent material for active electrodes for electric scalpels because it exhibits conductivity, lubricity and heat resistance, and has actually been used with very favorable results.

The ceramic composition applied to the present invention is composed of boron nitride and graphite, and in consideration of the conductivity required as an active electrode, boron nitride is 50 to 62% by weight and graphite is 50 to 38% by weight. A range of values is preferred.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a main part of an active electrode for an electric scalpel to which the present invention is applied. The composition of the present invention is particularly suitable for use at the tip 8a.
However, it is of course possible to form the entire active with the composition of the present invention.

The composition is obtained by sintering each granular raw material in a mold using a hot press method at a temperature of at least 1100°C or higher with the addition of a small amount of binder to obtain a rod-shaped molded product.
This is processed by cutting or the like to form an active electrode. Examples of materials preferably used as boron nitride raw materials include Denki Kagaku Kogyo Co., Ltd.
There is Denka Boron Nitride (trade name) made by Manufacturer.

The present invention is based on the above configuration, and uses a ceramic composition made of boron nitride and graphite instead of conventional metal for the entire active electrode or at least its tip, As a result, the lubricity (mold releasability) required by active electrodes,
Not only does it offer products that are far superior to conventional products in terms of heat resistance, conductivity, and other mechanical properties, but it also provides fluororesins, etc., which conventionally had to be used to prevent the adhesion of blood, etc. This eliminates the need for any coating film, etc., and eliminates problems such as peeling due to aging of the film, improving the operability of the electric scalpel.
This is an extremely useful invention as it further improves the service life, etc.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram of an electric scalpel device to which the present invention is applied, and FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of main parts of an active electrode according to the present invention. 1... Electric scalpel body, 2... Electrode section, 3, 4...
... Insulator, 5 ... Return electrode, 8 ... Active electrode, 9 ... Subject.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an electric scalpel that performs surgery such as tissue incision and coagulation using a current flowing between an active electrode and a return electrode, the active electrode contains 50 to 62% by weight of boron nitride and 50 to 38% by weight of graphite. An active electrode for an electric scalpel, characterized in that it is composed of a ceramic composition.