Title :
Plasma characteristics of repetitively-pulsed electrical discharges in saline solutions used for surgical procedures
Author :
Woloszko, Jean ; Stalder, Kenneth R. ; Brown, Ian G.
Author_Institution :
ArthoCare Corp., Sunnyvale, CA, USA
fDate :
6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
Characteristics of plasmas formed by repetitively-pulsed electrical discharges in sodium chloride and barium chloride saline solutions are reported. Spectroscopic observations in conjunction with an analysis of the voltage and current behavior of the discharge lead to a model in which the liquid is vaporized and ionized to form a plasma containing excited water fragments H* and OH* as well as ions and neutrals from the salt. For typical conditions under which plasma is formed, the plasma density is estimated to be of order 1012 cm-3 and the electron temperature about 4 eV.
Keywords :
discharges (electric); plasma applications; solutions; surgery; BaCl2; H; NaCl; OH; barium chloride; current behavior; dissociative excitation; electrical breakdown; electron temperature; electrosurgery; excited water fragments; liquid ionisation; liquid vaporisation; liquid vaporization; plasma characteristics; plasma density; plasma discharges; plasma formation; repetitively pulsed electrical discharges; saline solutions; sodium chloride; spectroscopic observations; surgical procedures; surgical tools; voltage behavior; Atomic measurements; Barium; Electrodes; Plasma density; Plasma devices; Plasma properties; Plasma sources; Plasma temperature; Plasma waves; Surgery;
Journal_Title :
Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TPS.2002.801612
