Comparative Thermal Effects of J-Plasma, Monopolar, Argon, and Laser Electrosurgery in a Porcine Tissue Model

The objective of this study was to understand how J-Plasma (Bovie Medical Corporation, Clearwater, Florida) surgical energy compares to monopolar, argon beam, and CO2 laser devices in terms of depth of penetration and lateral thermal spread in a porcine tissue model.

Using a porcine animal model, we applied the thermal energy of the J-Plasma laser, Bovie Monopolar Pencil (Bovie Medical Corporation, Clearwater, Florida), argon beam coagulator, and CO2 laser to porcine small bowel, bladder, and peritoneal tissues at equivalent settings. Tissue was excised and sent to pathology for histologic evaluation. Primary outcome was depth of penetration and lateral thermal spread.

When applied to peritoneum tissue, CO2 laser had the greatest lateral thermal spread at 2.99mm, while the argon beam had the lowest at just under 1.5mm. With regard to depth of penetration, the monopolar pencil had the highest while J-Plasma had the lowest. When applied to bladder tissue, the argon beam was associated with the greatest lateral thermal spread (3.1mm) as compared to the other three devices (all less than 1mm). In terms of depth of penetration of bladder tissue, J-Plasma again had the lowest value, while the monopolar pencil had the highest. When applied to small intestine tissue, the argon beam had the greatest lateral spread (3.51mm), while J-Plasma had the lowest (less than 1mm). Regarding depth of penetration of small intestine tissue, argon beam had the highest value at 1.8mm compared to the other three devices (all below 0.6mm).

Consistent with our previous study, J-Plasma had minimal lateral and depth spread when applied to various tissue types. J-Plasma performed better or similar when compared to monopolar, argon beam, and laser electrosurgical devices. Further studies in-vivo are needed to evaluate safety and surgical application of the J-Plasma device.