A coagulator is a device that can quickly stop bleeding and coagulate (combine) tissues. This device is used in many medical areas (often these are surgical operations).
Without a coagulator, it is impossible to carry out any surgical intervention, including classical, endoscopic, neurosurgical and dental operations. It is often used by ophthalmologists, otorhinolaryngologists, dermatologists and gynecologists.
What is a coagulator?
The operation of the device is based on high-frequency current. It is passed through the tissues and heats them up. As a result of this process, the protein in the tissues folds, and the blood stops being released. The main purpose of the coagulator is to stop bleeding, but this is not the only situation in which it is used in medicine.
The coagulator can be called a point action device, but if it is moved, then large areas of soft tissue can be treated. This allows doctors to devitalize certain areas of the human body. Thus, the therapy of tumors of a benign and malignant nature occurs.
Any medical equipment, including a coagulator, can be stationary and mobile, and can also operate in several modes. With this, specialists have the opportunity to adjust the power for each problem individually – this contributes to the effective processing of tissues that are damaged.
When developing new models, manufacturers have added new technologies to the medical device that allow vascular obliteration. This process is called a thermal stapler, and with the help of it, procedures such as argon plasma and electrosurgical coagulation appeared in medicine.
To sanitize a large area of tissue, it is necessary to set the coagulator to a non-contact mode, namely, spray coagulation. In this case, the work is carried out using an electric arc that occurs between living tissues and electrodes.
The main advantage of this technique is that there is no contact with the patient’s body, much less time is spent on the operation, and there is also no risk of device parts sticking. The latest versions of coagulators differ from their predecessors in absolute safety and ease of use. On new models, you can notice the touch panels, with the help of which the specialist selects the desired mode.
Main functions of the coagulator
As mentioned above, this device is used in almost all branches of medicine. With it you can:
- cut tissue for deeper surgical intervention;
- connect tissues after surgery;
- epilate tissue.
During the procedure, the medical device begins to release high frequencies that pass through the local space of the skin. As soon as the tissue is heated to the maximum, the process of evaporation of excess fluid inside the cells will begin. Also at this time, the protein begins to fold, exactly in the place where the tissues come into contact with the active electrodes.
As a rule, coagulators have a point effect, but if the doctor starts to move the electrode, the area of influence will increase significantly. Due to this, this medical equipment is used to devitalize pathological foci.
The device is used by specialists from different industries, in the case when it is necessary to carry out surgical intervention. As a rule, these are dermatologists, surgeons, gynecologists, urologists, cosmetologists, ophthalmologists and others.
Varieties of coagulators
To date, there are two main types of such medicines – stationary and mobile. But they, in turn, are divided into subspecies. Separation occurs according to the mode of action of biological tissue with the electrodes of the device. The monopolar coagulator is distinguished by an active electrode, which is installed separately from the rest. This electrode is placed under the patient.
The bipolar coagulator is presented in the form of tweezers with two active electrodes.
Also in medical practice, an electrosurgical coagulator is used, but this happens quite rarely, since during the procedure the electrodes very slowly pass the necessary impulses, and sometimes there are situations when the patient’s life depends on every second. It was noticed that such impulses had a negative effect on other electrical appliances.
When developing the latest models, all the shortcomings were eliminated, and sound and light alarms appeared instead. In addition, they are easy to operate and save the specified settings.
Before proceeding with the operation, it is necessary to choose the right coagulator. The medical device is selected depending on the coagulation technique.
A non-contact coagulator is intended for radio wave surgery. In this case, the soft tissue incision will be carried out with high-frequency waves up to 4 MHz. Dissection of the tissue occurs as a result of thermal exposure, which is formed in the process of tissue resistance.
During infrared coagulation, non-contact coagulators do not cause excessive vaporization at a temperature of 100°C. It should be noted that when used, electromagnetic interference is not dissipated, which can interfere with the operation of other devices.
During various surgical interventions, it is important that the blood coagulates quickly – this is the only way to achieve an effective result. Doctors often insist that patients stop taking medications that thin the blood before surgery, and also ask them to follow a certain diet. But not always, following these simple recommendations, blood coagulates the way specialists need. For this, modern inventors have come up with a medical device called a coagulator, and now not a single surgical operation can do without it.