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Evaluation of the resection efficiency and safety of an enhanced power plasma generator using cadaveric intervertebral discs

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Abstract

Plasma energy has been used to provide minimally invasive interventional treatment for spinal problems. However, this procedure has been used for limited indications mainly because of its small resection range. To overcome this problem, we designed the enhanced power plasma device. This device seeks to maximize the resection area by modifying the electrode arrangement and enhancing the maximum electric power. The purpose of this study is to assess the efficiency and safety of this newly designed plasma generator, a device for percutaneous disc decompression. We performed an intradiscal procedure on 7 fresh human cadaver lumbar spine specimens using the enhanced power plasma under C-arm fluoroscopic guidance at various voltages. As a result, the volume of the removed area was proportional to the applied magnitude of the electric power level. In particular, under the high-power level condition after 500 s treatment, nearly the entire nucleus pulposus was eliminated. The generated plasma density also tends to grow along with the given electric power. The highest level of temperature rise did not exceed the level that would lead to degeneration in the collagen tissue of the intervertebral disc. Histopathologic examination also demonstrated that there was no thermal damage to the surrounding neural tissues. In conclusion, we speculate that the concepts of this newly designed enhanced plasma generator could be applied to remove huge disc materials without thermal or structural damage to the adjacent target tissues in future spine clinics.

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Funding

The authors declare that no funds, grants, or other support were received during the preparation of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Health and Rehabilitation, College of Health Science, Cheongju University, 298, Daesung-Ro, Sangdang-Gu, 360-764, Cheongju, South Korea

    Youngki Hong & Yushin Kim

  2. Samsung Mechatronics R&D Center, SEC, 1, Samsunggjeonja-ro, Hwaseoung-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea

    Sung-Young Yoon

  3. Plasma Technology Research Center, National Fusion Research Institute, 54004, Gunsan, South Korea

    Sung-Young Yoon

  4. Department of Preventive Medicine, Korea University Medical Center, 126-1, Anam-Dong 5Ga, Seongbuk-Gu, 136-705, Seoul, South Korea

    Sangho Sohn

  5. Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Korea University Medical Center, 126-1, Anam-Dong 5Ga, Seongbuk-Gu, 136-705, Seoul, South Korea

    Nack Hwan Kim & Sangheon Lee

  6. Spinal Diagnostics and Treatment Center, 901 Campus Dr, 94015, Daly City, CA, USA

    Sangheon Lee

Authors
  1. Youngki Hong
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  2. Sung-Young Yoon
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  3. Sangho Sohn
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  4. Nack Hwan Kim
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  5. Yushin Kim
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Contributions

This study was supervised by Sangheon Lee. The design and fabrication of enhanced power plasma was carried out by Sung-Young Yoon. Cadaver experiments were conducted by Sangho Sohn and Nack Hwan Kim. Data collection and analysis were performed by Yushin Kim. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Youngki Hong and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sangheon Lee.

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Hong, Y., Yoon, SY., Sohn, S. et al. Evaluation of the resection efficiency and safety of an enhanced power plasma generator using cadaveric intervertebral discs. Biomed. Eng. Lett. 13, 57–64 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-022-00253-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13534-022-00253-9

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