CHAPTER 6

Biomedical Science

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Biomedical
Science Objectives
• Demonstrate basic word processing,
Internet, and e-mail functions
• Apply computer knowledge to safe patient
care
• Analyze the geometrical concepts of
robotics and the mechanisms of the
robotic system

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Biomedical
Science Objectives
• Cite the basic principles of electricity and
their application in the OR
• Apply the principles of robotics to safe
patient care practices in the OR
• Apply the principles of physics to safe
patient care practices in the OR

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Computers in
the Operating Room
• Surgeon’s preference cards
• Sterile processing
• Robotics
• Scheduling
• Patient charting
• Surgical records

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 Preference Cards
• Electronic
– Easy to access
– Neat
– Accurate

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 Preference Cards
• Handwritten
- Often illegible
- Difficult to find, lost, taken with the
surgeon to another facility

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Preference Cards
Sample
Electronic
Preference
Card
OR Magic™ Surgical
Management Software
© 1996-2007 M-Soft, Inc.
www.ormagic.com

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Sterile Processing
• Online ordering
• Inventory
• Instrument count sheets
• Reduced paperwork

© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Robotics
• Surgical technologists
will be responsible
for:
– Setting up the robot
– Running the computer
programs
– Operating equipment
during the surgical
procedure

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 Patient Scheduling
• Streamlined
• Use of e-mail or fax for communication
provides instant information
• Easily updated
• Records printed prior to surgery

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 Patient Charts
• Storing
• Updating
• Sharing patient information
• Easy access to confirm results or
information vital to the surgical patient
care

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 Surgical Records
• Many facilities have placed a computer in
each OR
– Completion of the OR record and saved
directly to the patient’s chart
– Send lab or diagnostic orders
– Receive lab or diagnostic results

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 Computer Hardware
• Hardware is the overall term used to
describe the components of a computer
– CPU
– Monitor
– Modem
– Memory

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CPU
• Central Processing Unit
• Silicon chip located within
a case
• Coordinates the
operations of the
computer
• Manages the computer
system
• Facilitates exchange of
data with the memory

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 Monitor
• The screen that
displays the output of
the computer

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Modem
• Internal device or
external unit with a
cable inserted into the
USB port
• Facilitates sending
information over
phone lines, cable
network, or satellite
systems to other
computers.
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 Memory Storage
• Measured in bytes
• One byte of memory
holds one character
• Floppy disks
• Zip drives
• CDs
• DVDs

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 Using the Computer
• Basic operations
– Power
– Booting up
– Login
– Passwords
– Internet access/e-mail
• Desktop
– General background

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 Using the Computer
• Task bar
– Shows all applications or documents currently
open
• Getting help

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 Electricity
• Electrosurgery
• X-ray
• Endoscopes
• Lasers
• Robotics

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Basic Understanding
• Atoms, electrons, and matter
• Insulators
• Electrical charge
• Current
– Direct and Alternating
• Volts
• Ohm’s
• Radio frequency
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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Atoms, Electrons, and Matter
• Matter is anything that has
mass and occupies space
• All matter consists of atoms

• Atoms are composed of • Protons – Inside nucleus and

positively charged
small particles:
• Neutrons – Inside nucleus; neutral
– Protons particles
– Electrons • Electrons – Revolve around the
– Neutrons nucleus; negatively charged
particles

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 Insulators
• Inhibit flow of electrons
• Rubber and plastic
• Poor conductors
– Conductors are:
• Copper
• Other metals

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 Electrical Charge
• Can be negative or positive
• Two negatives or two positives will repel
• Unlike charges will attract
– REMEMBER - OPPOSITES ATTRACT!!

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 Electrical Current
• Movement of the electrical charge
• Current travels through the conductors by
movement of the free electrons
• Two types: Direct (DC) and Alternating (AC)
– Common AC – Power lines
– Common DC – Batteries

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Volts and Ohm’s
• Volt
– Electrical potential or the electric charge at
any given time between two points
• Ohm’s law
– Represents the rate of flow of electrons, and
voltage represents the electric charge (or
potential)

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Electrosurgical Unit (ESU) Circuit
• Generator (power source)
• Active electrode (electrosurgical pencil)
– Delivers the electric current to the surgical site
through the tissue

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Electrosurgical Unit (ESU) Circuit
• Patient
• Dispersive electrode (grounding pad)
– Electric current is channeled back to the
generator via the grounding pad

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 Monopolar/Bipolar
• Monopolar • Bipolar
– Most common – Less frequent
– Coagulation or cutting – Only coagulation
– Large areas – Delicate procedures
– Areas of moisture

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 Accessories to Electrosurgery
• Harmonic scalpel
– Ultrasonic energy
– Cut and coagulate
– Surrounding tissue suffers less thermal
damage (charring)
– A grounding pad is not necessary
• No electricity

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 Accessories to Electrosurgery
• Argon gas
– Used to enhance the effectiveness by
allowing electric current to pass safely
through the gas

31

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 Advantages of Electrosurgery
• Reduced blood loss
• Saves time
• Cutting current also burns tissue reducing
the need to stop and control bleeding
• Cutting current seals small spaces in the
tissue and lymphatic vessels

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 Dangers of ESU
• Risk to the surgical team
– RF capacitive coupling
– Dielectric breakdown
– Plume

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 Dangers of ESU
• Electrical burns
– Very deep
– Extensive tissue necrosis
– Deep thrombosis

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 Physics
• Medical and surgical applications
– Ultrasound imaging
– PET Scan
– CT Scan
– MRI

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Physics
• Laws and concepts
– Speed, velocity, acceleration
– Newton’s Law of motion
– Momentum, work, energy, power
– Atom, elements, molecules, solids, liquids,
gases and plasmas
• Mechanics

36

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 Behavior of Light
• Reflection
– Angle of reflection equals the angle of
incidence
– Important to the ST as related to the use of
lasers

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 Behavior of Light
• Refraction
– The bending of a light ray as it passes from
one substance to another

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 Laser Light
• Different from ordinary light
• Monochromatic
• Coherent
• Its color will decide how it will react with
various tissues
– Red laser light is absorbed by red-pigmented
tissue

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 Parts of a Laser System
• Energy pump (excitation source)
• Gain medium
• Resonator cavity
• Laser head
• Ancillary components
• Control panel
• Delivery system

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Lasers
• Carbon Dioxide
• Argon
• Nd:YAG
• Potassium Titanyl
Phosphate
• Excimer
• Holmium: YAG

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 Robotic Surgery
• Improve surgical patient care
• Overcome human limitations
• Reliable
• Complex

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Robotic Arm
• Workhorse element of
the system
• Simple functions
– Holding an endoscope
for operative viewing
• Complex functions
– Manipulation of
instrumentation

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Robotic Manipulator
• Pitch – up and down
• Yaw – right and left
• Roll – rotating
movement

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

 Advantages
of Remote Manipulation
• Eliminates hand tremor
• Surgeon performs interventions in a
confined space
• Better visualization
• Fosters telesurgery

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.

Role of the Surgical Technologist
• Physics
• Biomechanics
• Computer science
• Software
• Electronics
• Robotics

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© 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning.