Team Name: 808
Sponsor: Medtronic
Our project was to design and fabricate an rf generator to power an electrosurgical unit (ESU) used to by the Ligasure instrument. This is a surgical device used in blood vessel sealing and tissue cauterization applications. Technological advancements in electrosurgery such as the ESU and vessel sealing applications in the developed world have been shown to reduce operation times, post-surgery pain, and expedited recovery times. However, at the moment, many lower-income countries do not have access to ESU generators due to their high cost and large size. The goal of our project was to create a more accessible electrosurgical unit that was both cost-effective and space efficient while not compromising its vessel-sealing capabilities.