Research of electrosurgical ablation with antiadhesive functionalization on thermal and histopathological effects of brain tissues in vivo

Thermal injury and tissue sticking are two major concerns in the electrosurgery. In the present study, the effect of lateral thermal injury caused by different electrosurgical electrodes on wound healing was investigated. An electrosurgical unit equipped with untreated (SS) and titanium oxide layer-coated (TiO₂-coated) stainless steel needle-type electrodes was used to create lesions on the rat brain tissue. TiO₂ layers were produced by radiofrequency plasma and magnetron sputtering in the form of amorphous (TO-SS-1), anatase (TO-SS-2), and rutile (TO-SS-3) phase. Animals were sacrificed for evaluations at 0, 2, 7, and 28 days postoperatively. TO-SS-3 electrodes generated lower levels of sticking tissue, and the thermographs showed that the recorded highest temperature in brain tissue from the TO-SS-3 electrode was significantly lower than in the SS electrode. The total injury area of brain tissue caused by TO-SS-1 and TO-SS-3 electrodes was significantly lower than that caused by SS electrodes at each time point. The results of the present study reveal that the plating of electrodes with a TiO₂ film with rutile phases is an efficient method for improving the performance of electrosurgical units and should benefit wound healing.