Tissue Sealer Reduces Blood Loss During Spinal Surgery

A new device hemostatically seals soft tissue and epidural veins during spinal surgery by cauterizing them with radio frequency (RF) energy.

The Aquamantys Sheathed Bipolar Sealer (SBS) 5.0 provides hemostatic sealing capabilities for both incised soft tissue (such as muscle fibers) and epidural veins with a single device. The device uses proprietary transcollation technology, which simultaneously integrates RF energy and saline to deliver controlled thermal energy to the tissue. This allows the tissue temperature to stay at or below 100 °C, the boiling point of water. Unlike conventional electrosurgical devices, which operate at high temperatures, the technology does not result in smoke or char formation when put in contact with tissue.


The RF energy affects blood vessels by heating type I and type III collagen within their walls that are responsible for the radial compression, resulting in a decrease in vessel lumen diameter. Vessels that are less than one mm in circumference may be completely occluded, resulting in reduced blood loss. The Aquamantys SBS 5.0 is a product of Medtronic (Minneapolis, MN, USA), and has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The technology was developed by Salient Surgical Technologies (Portsmouth, NH, USA), which was acquired by Medtronic in August 2011.

“The SBS 5.0 is a great combination tool that will allow surgeons to treat cut muscle planes as well as compress and treat epidural veins with a single device,” said Paul Santiago, MD, a surgeon at Washington University School of Medicine (St. Louis, MO, USA). “This will be particularly useful in cases like 1-2 level TLIFs/PLIFs in which you want the ability to address both of these needs but the economics can make using multiple devices difficult.”

“We are excited to offer surgeons this new addition to our ever-growing spine portfolio of advanced energy products,” said Mark Fletcher, president of the surgical technologies business at Medtronic, “The SBS 5.0 utilizes the effectiveness of our patented Transcollation technology in preventing and stopping bleeding during surgery, and it will deliver considerable value to surgeons, patients, and hospitals alike.”

Related Links:
Medtronic
Salient Surgical Technologies