Cryosurgery

2023: Russia has created equipment to assess the degree of tissue freezing in cryosurgery

In mid-September 2023, the Platform of the National Technological Initiative (NTI) reported that Russian researchers developed a system to assess the degree of tissue freezing in cryosurgery. The new equipment will help improve safety in operations to remove tumors, warts and moles under the influence of low temperatures.

Cryosurgery involves tissue destruction under the influence of liquid nitrogen and other substances of extremely low temperature. During such procedures, doctors need to monitor the degree of freezing to avoid injury and subsequent inflammation at the site of the removed tumor. However, existing methods such as X-rays, MRI and ultrasound do not allow this indicator to be tracked during surgery. As a result, the tissue may not be sufficiently frozen or, conversely, frozen. In some cases, it can turn into sepsis. The new Russian development allows you to solve the problem.

Russian researchers have developed a system to assess the degree of tissue freezing in cryosurgery

To control the degree of cooling of tissues, it is proposed to use special devices - the so-called cryopincets and cryocollars. They will measure the level of freezing by the characteristics of the electrical conductivity of tissues (electrical impedance) and transmit data to an operating tomograph. The accompanying software, also developed by Russian specialists, will allow surgeons to see on the monitor screen not only the degree of freezing, but also the boundaries and depth of cold exposure to tissues.

It is said that the new hardware complex provides higher safety for the patient compared to X-rays. At the same time, it is much more compact than MRI devices. The system will allow monitoring tissue condition before, during and after surgery. This ensures compatibility with other medical equipment.^[1]

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