Development of new blades of ultrasonic surgical system (SonoSurg^R) for tonsillectomy and nasal conchotomy

In the otolaryngological field, SonoSurg^R (Ultrasonic Surgical System, developed by Olympus Corporation in Japan) has never been used because the shape of the tips is too large for ENT-Head and Neck Surgery use. SonoSurg^R is an ultrasonic surgical device with 47000 Hz vibration and 75 μm amplitude. An ultrasonic vibration at the tip of the SonoSurg^R blade can cut the tissue continuously with low tissue damage. SonoSurg^R has hemostasis and coagulation performance by frictional heat on the side of the blade. Coagulation will finish with a low temperature, less than 80 °C, and causes few lateral tissue damages. In this paper, we presented the advantages and disadvantages of a SonoSurg^R knife blade and a spatula blade that we newly developed for tonsillectomy and nasal conchotomy. SonoSurg^R needs no protective glasses, has strong stop-bleeding and high-coagulation ability, has few lateral tissue damage, and has no muscle twitch. Fine SonoSurg^R blades with 3.8 mm diameter as newly developed by us are more useful for our ENT-Head and Neck Surgical field surgery. SonoSurg^R has a few disadvantages in that the blades are somewhat costly and the sheath heats up with continuous use.