Enhancing surgical flexibility: Modeling of a novel curved-waveguide ultrasonic scalpel for intricate procedures

Abstract

In surgical scenarios such as thoracic procedures where target tissues locate behind sternums, the conventional rigid-long-straight ultrasonic scalpel is hard to operate. To solve the problem, this paper proposes a novel curved-waveguide ultrasonic scalpel (CWUS) with TC4 material. Through mathematical derivations and simulations, the dimension of CWUS is determined. Modal, transient, and fatigue life simulation by COMSOL demonstrate that the proposed CWUS effectively suppresses lateral vibrations in the scalpel body, and can output a comparable amplitude to conventional ultrasonic scalpels with an enough fatigue life. Consequently, the proposed novel CWUS is especially useful for doctors to perform complex operations in thoracic invasive surgery safer and more flexible.