A novel sine–shaped electrode for reducing the thermal damage of intestinal anastomosis induced by radiofrequency energy

Background This study aimed to develop and evaluate a novel sine–shaped electrode for reducing the thermal damage of intestinal anastomosis induced by radiofrequency energy.Methods An electrode with a sine–shaped structure was designed, and electrothermal simulations were conducted to evaluate the thermal damage to the welded intestine compared with the reference concave–convex electrode. Ex vivo tissue welding experiments were performed to investigate the temperature variation in the anastomotic stoma using an infrared thermal imager. The strength and microstructure of the anastomotic stoma were assessed using burst pressure measurements and histopathological observations, respectively.Results Simulation results revealed that the sine–shaped electrode reduced the maximum temperature, compared to the concave–convex electrode (81.5 vs. 93.2 °C). Ex vivo experiments indicated that the maximum temperatures of anastomotic stoma welded by the sine–shaped electrode and the concave–convex electrode were 80.3 °C and 96.8 °C, respectively, and the corresponding burst pressures of anastomotic stoma for the two groups were 55 ± 2 mmHg and 46 ± 2 mmHg, respectively. Histopathological results suggested that the tissues were anastomosed more tightly using the sine–shaped electrode.Conclusion The application of the sine–shaped electrode in RF tissue welding can protect the tissue from excessive thermal damage.