Basic description of the topic:
Electrosurgical devices, such as electrocoagulation systems, are widely used tools in modern surgical procedures. For educational, development and validation purposes, it is important to have reproducible and safely applicable artificial tissue models that are able to represent certain tissue properties and electrosurgical effects. Suitable phantoms enable the systematic investigation of different device settings, instrument use patterns and material properties.
The candidate’s task is to design, fabricate and validate an artificial electrosurgical phantom in the simulated operating room environment of the Óbuda University MedTech Innovation and Education Center. The work includes the overview of relevant tissue properties related to electrosurgical interventions, such as mechanical, thermal and electrical characteristics, and the investigation of different phantom materials and designs based on these aspects. The aim of the developed phantom is to support repeatable electrocoagulation experiments and the objective evaluation of the resulting tissue effects based on image, thermal or other measurement data.
Detailed tasks:
- Literature overview in the field of electrosurgery, electrocoagulation, surgical phantoms and artificial tissue models;
- Getting acquainted with the operating room unit, electrosurgical devices and relevant measurement capabilities of the MedTech Innovation and Education Center;
- Definition of the technical and functional requirements for the electrosurgical phantom to be developed;
- Design and fabrication of different phantom materials and geometrical configurations;
- Development of an electrocoagulation measurement protocol for different device settings, contact times and application modes;
- Collection of image, thermal or other measurement data during electrosurgical experiments performed on the phantom;
- Quantitative evaluation of the resulting coagulation, cutting or thermal effect patterns;
- Comparison of the artificial phantom’s behavior with natural or commercially available reference materials;
- Evaluation of the repeatability, usability and further development possibilities of the developed phantom system.
Over the course of the project, the student will have the opportunity to become familiar with the research infrastructure of the Óbuda University MedTech Innovation and Education Center and the Antal Bejczy Center for Intelligent Robotics, and to get involved in the research and development activities carried out there.