Method and system for predicting current paths and evaluating electrical burn risks of a monopolar electrosurgery tool

Abstract

Embodiments described herein provide various examples of mitigating electrical burn risks when using a monopolar electrosurgery tool on a patient in an electrosurgery procedure. In one aspect, a process receives an electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a location of an active electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool at a surgical site on the patient's body and a location of a return electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool elsewhere on the patient's body. The process further obtains information of a metal implant inside the patient's body. Next, the process computes a plurality of potential current paths between the locations of the active electrode and the return electrode. The process then determines if one or more current paths in the plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant. If so, the process informs a surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the electrode configuration.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer-implemented method for mitigating electrical burn risks when using a monopolar electrosurgery tool on a patient in an electrosurgery procedure, the method comprising:
 receiving a first electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a location of an active electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool at a surgical site on the patient's body and a first location of a return electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool elsewhere on the patient's body;   obtaining information of a metal implant inside the patient's body;   computing a first plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the first location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the first location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant;   determining if one or more current paths in the first plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and   if so, informing a surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the first electrode configuration.   
     
     
         2 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein after informing the surgical staff of the potential electrical burn risks associated with the first electrode configuration, the method further comprises:
 receiving a second electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a second location of the return electrode after the surgical staff has repositioned the return electrode on the patient's body from the first location;   computing a second plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the second location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the second location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant;   determining if one or more current paths in the second plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and   if so, informing the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the second electrode configuration.   
     
     
         3 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 2 , wherein after informing the surgical staff of the potential electrical burn risks associated with the second electrode configuration, the method further comprises:
 receiving a third electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a third location of the return electrode after the surgical staff has repositioned the return electrode on the patient's body from the second location;   computing a third plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the third location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the third location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant;   determining if one or more current paths in the third plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and   if so, further determining if a predetermined number of attempts has been reached to mitigate potential electrical burn risks by repositioning the return electrode; and
 if so,
 informing the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the third electrode configuration; and 
 suggesting to the surgical staff to avoid using the monopolar electrosurgery tool for the electrosurgery procedure. 
 
   
     
     
         4 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein if no current path in the first plurality of computed potential current paths is identified to flow through the metal implant, the method further comprises informing the surgical staff that the electrosurgery procedure is safe to proceed without potential electrical burn risks. 
     
     
         5 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein informing the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the first electrode configuration includes:
 sending a warning message to the surgical staff; and   highlighting one or more locations of the potential electrical burn injuries on a graphical display of the one or more identified current paths flowing through the metal implant within a three-dimensional (3D) view of the patient's body.   
     
     
         6 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein computing the first plurality of potential current paths includes predicting multiple pathways in the patient's body associated with the top N (e.g., N=5) lowest resistances between the location of the active electrode and the first location of the return electrode. 
     
     
         7 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein obtaining the information of the metal implant includes obtaining the locations of the metal implant inside the patient's body and the dimensions of the metal implant. 
     
     
         8 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein prior to computing the first plurality of potential current paths, the method further comprises constructing a comprehensive tissue structure of the patient's body between the active electrode and the return electrode by:
 receiving a sequence of endoscope video images which captures anatomical structures inside the patient's body between the active electrode and the return electrode; and   segmenting the captured anatomical structures to identify a set of tissues between the active electrode and the return electrode.   
     
     
         9 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
 supplementing the captured anatomical structures with a 3D scan of the anatomical structures between the active electrode and the return electrode; and   segmenting the captured anatomical structures and the 3D scanned anatomical structures to identify the set of tissues between the active electrode and the return electrode.   
     
     
         10 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 9 , wherein the method further comprises extracting from the 3D scan, the information including the locations and the dimensions of the metal implant. 
     
     
         11 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein computing the first plurality of potential current paths includes:
 augmenting each tissue in the set of identified tissues with a corresponding dielectric constant value; and   applying a current path model to the set of identified tissues, the set of corresponding dielectric constant values, the location of the active electrode, the first location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant to obtain the first plurality of potential current paths between the active electrode and the return electrode.   
     
     
         12 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein augmenting each tissue in the set of identified tissues with the corresponding dielectric constant value further includes:
 extracting color information for a given tissue in the set of identified tissues from the endoscope video images;   converting the extracted color information into a modifier to modify a corresponding dielectric constant value associated with the given tissue; and   augmenting the given tissue with the modified dielectric constant value.   
     
     
         13 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 8 , wherein modifying the corresponding dielectric constant value associated with the tissue includes:
 if the extracted color information indicates that the given tissue has a brighter than average color for the type of tissue, increasing the corresponding dielectric constant value associated with the given tissue; and   if the extracted color information indicates that the given tissue has a darker than average color for the type of tissue, decreasing the corresponding dielectric constant value associated with the given tissue.   
     
     
         14 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 1 , wherein the information of the metal implant is obtained through an inquiry of the patient's medical history. 
     
     
         15 . An apparatus for mitigating electrical burn risks when using a monopolar electrosurgery tool on a patient in an electrosurgery procedure, the apparatus comprising:
 one or more processors; and   a memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
 receive a first electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a location of an active electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool at a surgical site on the patient's body and a first location of a return electrode of the monopolar electrosurgery tool on the patient's body; 
 obtain information of a metal implant inside the patient's body; 
 compute a first plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the first location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the first location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant; 
 determine if one or more current paths in the first plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and 
 if so, inform a surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the first electrode configuration. 
   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
 receive a second electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a second location of the return electrode after the surgical staff has repositioned the return electrode on the patient's body from the first location;   compute a second plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the second location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the second location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant;   determine if one or more current paths in the second plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and   if so, inform the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the second electrode configuration.   
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 16 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to:
 receive a third electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a third location of the return electrode after the surgical staff has repositioned the return electrode on the patient's body from the second location;   compute a third plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the third location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the third location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant;   determine if one or more current paths in the third plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and   if so, further determine if a predetermined number of attempts has been reached to mitigate potential electrical burn risks by repositioning the return electrode; and
 if so,
 inform the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the third electrode configuration; and 
 suggest to the surgical staff to avoid using the monopolar electrosurgery tool for the electrosurgery procedure. 
 
   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the apparatus to inform the surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the first electrode configuration by:
 sending a warning message to the surgical staff; and   highlighting one or more locations of the potential electrical burn injuries on a graphical display of the one or more identified current paths flowing through the metal implant within a three-dimensional (3D) view of the patient's body.   
     
     
         19 . An electrosurgery unit, comprising:
 an electrosurgical generator;   a monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes an active electrode and a return electrode;   one or more processors; and   a memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors during an electrosurgery procedure, cause the electrosurgery unit to:
 receive a first electrode configuration of the monopolar electrosurgery tool which includes a location of the active electrode at a surgical site on a patient's body and a first location of the return electrode elsewhere on the patient's body; 
 obtain information of a metal implant inside the patient's body; 
 compute a first plurality of potential current paths between the location of the active electrode and the first location of the return electrode based at least on the location of the active electrode, the first location of the return electrode, and the information of the metal implant; 
 determine if one or more current paths in the first plurality of computed potential current paths flow through the metal implant; and 
 if so, inform a surgical staff of potential electrical burn injuries associated with the first electrode configuration. 
   
     
     
         20 . The electrosurgery unit of  19 , wherein if no current path in the first plurality of computed potential current paths is identified to flow through the metal implant, the memory further stores instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the electrosurgery unit to inform the surgical staff that the electrosurgery procedure is safe to proceed without potential electrical burn risks.