In the past, surgeons had several energy-based technologies, which they could use to cut with during procedures in the operating room. Two of those included electrosurgery and lasers, utilizing electric and light energy.
Ultrasonic energy uses sound waves that turn electrical energy into mechanical motion.
Unlike lasers and electrosurgical devices, which use light and intense electrical energy and which operate at very high temperatures to vaporize or burn through human tissue, ultrasonic surgical instruments make incisions at much lower temperatures. This may result in less damage to sensitive tissue layers in the patient. The device is powered by a generator that creates a computer controlled signal that travels through a hand piece, where electrical energy is converted to mechanical motion, and along a shaft and then to an attached blade. This energy causes the blade to vibrate at 55,500 times per second. The device may be used in videoscopic and open surgical procedures for gallbladder, laparoscopic bladder neck suspension for the treatment of urinary stress incontinence, gastroesophageal reflux surgery for the treatment of chronic heartburn, laparoscopically-assisted hysterectomy and for the treatment of endometriosis.