A New Cold Plasma Jet: Performance Evaluation of Cold Plasma, Hybrid Plasma and Argon Plasma Coagulation

Lawan Ly, Sterlyn Jones, Alexey Shashurin, Taisen Zhuang, Warren Rowe III, Xiaoqian Cheng, Shruti Wigh, Tammey Naab, Michael Keidar, and Jerome Canady

Electrosurgery is the use of high frequency radiofrequency (RF) alternating current (AC) for
cutting and coagulation of tissue. Investigators in Europe and the United States started to explore
the effect of AC on tissue in the late nineteenth century. In 1893, a French inventor and physicist,
Arsene d’Arsonval was the first to report the clinical effect of AC on tissue [1]. Many Europeans and
Americans contributed to the development of the AC electrosurgical generator but the invention by
Dr. William T. Bovie [2] stands out the most. Bovie’s contributions in electrosurgery enhanced after
collaborating with Dr. Harvey Cushing, Surgeon in Chief at Peter Bent Brigham, who used Bovie’s
electrosurgical generator for a brain tumor because of excessive bleeding [3].

Plasma technology in surgery has advanced since the first introduction by Morrison 44 years
ago [4]. In 1990, Canady [5] was the first to describe the delivery of argon plasma coagulation via a
flexible endoscope. These new methods allowed the surgeon and endoscopist to combine standard
monopolar electrocautery with a plasma gas for the coagulation of tissue. In 2010, Canady et al. [6]
developed a new mode of plasma- “Hybrid Plasma”. Hybrid plasma combines monopolar electrical
charge with a plasma gas which creates a plasma beam that can simultaneously cut and coagulate
biological tissue.