More than 20 years ago, Ukrainian scientists – engineers, doctors, physicists, biologists – led by academician B.E. Paton developed and introduced a technology for welding living soft tissues. The practical basis for such a connection is special equipment and tools that are constantly being improved. For example, these are universal mobile welding electrocoagulators, which are indispensable for surgeons working on call, military hospitals, ambulance stations, air ambulance services, disaster medicine, veterinary surgery, and others.
Scientists at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute have long and fruitfully cooperated with scientists at the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, in particular on improving and expanding the capabilities of the Patonmed series of devices for joining living tissues. For example, the Department of Electronic Devices and Systems of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Electronics is developing and researching power sources for portable electrosurgical devices for welding biological tissues. The developers aim to expand the range of device parameters and reduce its weight and dimensions. Recently, the project “Power sources for portable electrosurgical devices for welding biological tissues of a new generation,” presented by the scientific team of the department, won the Ministry of Education and Science competition and received state funding.
Veterans of the department recall that when Academician B.E. Paton proposed using electric welding to join and cut living biological tissues, the idea seemed fantastic. Today, however, electrosurgery has established itself as an effective and reliable method of performing surgical operations and is being actively introduced in medical institutions.
However, experts note that work on the creation and improvement of power sources for electrosurgical equipment remains relevant, since electrosurgical welding devices currently in serial production are characterized by relatively high weight and dimensions, while having low specific power.
“The power supply for electrosurgical equipment is a semiconductor converter that provides the electrical parameters necessary for electrosurgical procedures,” say the scientists. “The scope of application of such power supplies determines the interdisciplinary nature of this project and requires a combination of knowledge in electrical engineering, electronics, medicine, biology, etc.”
Therefore, the creative team consists of experienced scientists who have already worked on this topic, including Oleksandr Bondarenko, Pavlo Safronov, and Andrii Dubko, as well as young scientists interested in gaining scientific experience, such as Yevhenii Dziuba, Denis Zinchenko, and Tetiana Korolyuk—will search for and study new patterns that link the quality and reliability of biological tissue welding, especially in field conditions, with the portability of the welding equipment and the characteristics of the welding power sources. The research is based on the hypothesis that the synthesis of new topologies of electricity converters and accumulators, as well as new approaches to the management of electricity conversion processes, will create conditions for achieving a high degree of portability and autonomy while maintaining or improving the basic quality and reliability characteristics of the biological tissue welding process.
Incidentally, scientists from the Faculty of Electronics of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute have been involved in work on this topic since the idea first arose and continue to be involved to this day. Some issues, such as the energy efficiency of welding power sources and the accuracy of their welding pulse parameters, were considered in previous projects, the results of which made it possible to form a theoretical basis for further work focused mainly on practical implementation.
“In general,” say the researchers, "this area of scientific work originated from the development of power sources for precision spot welding of metals in instrument engineering, which we worked on earlier. After becoming interested in the work of the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute on the use of welding in medicine, we came to the conclusion that our developments could be implemented in this new field. This led to scientific contacts, which later developed into fruitful cooperation. Like previous projects, we plan to carry out this project in cooperation with leading scientists from the E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute and the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, who are actively assisting us, particularly in the practical part of the research.
Thus, the project is expected to result in the creation of a prototype power source for a new generation of portable electrosurgical devices for welding biological tissues. Such equipment can be effective for performing emergency surgical operations both in medical clinics and in the field. Negotiations are currently underway with potential customers who have expressed interest in the project to refine the prototype's specifications.