Soluble gas tight capsules for use in surgical quality testing

J. B. Vorstius, G. A. Thomson, A. P. Slade

Research output: Chapter in Book/Published conference outputConference publication

Abstract

During many surgical procedures such as gastrointestinal or vascular surgery it is necessary to excise and reconnect bodily conduits. Failed connections can have extremely serious consequences and a method to help surgeons determine the integrity of connections has been proposed. This involves the detection of trace gas breaching an anastomosis. A key feature of this is establishing a method to place a controlled volume of gas into the conduit. A soluble capsule method is presented here. The requirements were that the capsule must be safe, a volume of 0.5 - 1.0ml of gas at 2 Bar pressure should be contained, that the filling gas can be varied to suit the clinical application and that the capsules have a shelf life of at least 5 days without showing loss of gas. A device and procedure were developed to meet these criteria. This consists of modified oral pharmaceutical capsules and a capsule filling mechanism contained in a vacuum chamber. Sealing the capsules has been achieved via an alcohol / water mix coupled to capilliary action. Results show performance which meets the design specification and the capsules have shown themselves effective in tests using phantom scenarios.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication4th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering - ECIFMBE 2008
PublisherSpringer
Pages895-898
Number of pages4
ISBN (Print)9783540892076
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008
Event4th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, ECIFMBE 2008 - Antwerp, Belgium
Duration: 23 Nov 200827 Nov 2008

Publication series

NameIFMBE Proceedings
Volume22
ISSN (Print)1680-0737

Conference

Conference4th European Conference of the International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, ECIFMBE 2008
Country/TerritoryBelgium
CityAntwerp
Period23/11/0827/11/08

Keywords

  • Anastomoses
  • Gas
  • Leakage
  • Pharmaceutical capsules

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