Patent Application
20230310020
The invention relates to a surgical generator configured to output a high-frequency alternating voltage to a surgical ultrasound instrument. It comprises an inverter for generating high-frequency voltage, particularly in the ultrasound frequency range, which is provided at an output socket for connection of the surgical instrument.
In surgery, surgical ultrasound instruments are employed in all fields of surgery for cutting of tissue and sealing of vessels, even larger vessels. An advantage of ultrasound surgeries is that at a minimum of thermal spread is generated, thereby minimizing adverse impact on adjacent tissue. Various different ultrasound instruments are used dependent on the actual task at hand.
Surgical ultrasound instruments comprise an ultrasonic transducer converting electrical energy provided by the surgical generator into ultrasonic energy which then can be used for therapy. Generally speaking, ultrasound instruments are a complex load to the surgical generator. The electric impedance is complex and dependent on frequency, and moreover significant resonances are experienced corresponding to mechanical resonance modes. The mechanical resonance itself is affected by the mechanical load actually present at the surgical instrument, which in turn depends on the kind of tissue treated and can therefore change quite dynamically during application of the surgical instrument.
For driving of ultrasound instruments, the surgical generator requires an inverter or amplifier that has an adjustable frequency, e.g. a class-D amplifier. In order to adapt the output of the amplifier to the actual ultrasound instrument in use a matching circuit is required. The matching circuit typically consists of a parallel inductor named matching coil connected in parallel to the surgical instrument and being used to shape the impedance characteristic of the instrument such that the desired mechanical resonance mode can be excited. An exemplary embodiment of such a configuration is shown in
However, matching coils are rather bulky, specific to the instrument and are therefore rather expensive. Further, being specific to the instrument means that the matching coil must be tuned to the specific transfer characteristic of the ultrasound instrument. Therefore, only those ultrasound instruments that were already available when the surgical generator and its matching coil were developed can be connected. In other words, the surgical generator is tied to instruments that already existed at its manufacturing. This is a serious limitation restricting usage of newer, more advanced ultrasound instruments.
It has been proposed to avoid the task of providing the matching coil by doing away with the concept of tuning to a resonance frequency by changing to a different concept of measuring static capacitance of the surgical ultrasound instrument instead (U.S. Pat. No. 10,265,117 B2). However, this requires constant repetitive measurement of the static capacitance.
Thus, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved surgical generator providing better adaptability to the ultrasound instrument actually used.
The solution according to the invention resides in the features of the independent claim. Advantageous embodiments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
In a surgical generator configured to output a high-frequency alternating voltage to a surgical ultrasound instrument, comprising a main control unit, an oscillator generating a driving oscillation and an inverter generating high-frequency alternating voltage dependent on the driving oscillation, the high frequency alternating voltage being supplied via a filter and a matching circuit to an output socket for connection of said surgical instrument, wherein a matching circuit is provided for matching power output of the inverter to said surgical instrument, it is provided according to the invention that the matching circuit is formed by a matching-coil emulation device configured to emulate a matching coil comprising (i) a correction device acting on the driving oscillation, the correction device comprising a mixing unit and a feedback circuit whose input is connected to the output socket, wherein the feedback circuit calculates a correction signal supplied as an input to the mixing unit whose other input receives the driving oscillation, an output of the mixing unit being supplied to the inverter; and (ii) an artificial phase generator configured to provide an artificial phase signal input to the oscillator, the artificial phase generator comprising an estimator for a virtual current in consideration of the emulated matching-coil and being configured to determine a phase shift between said virtual current and the measured output voltage, the artificial phase being different from a measured phase shift between output voltage and current.
The invention aims at providing a specific matching circuit thereby replacing the physical matching coil. The invention realized that it requires a combination of two different features in order to provide such a matching circuit that is enabled to replace the physical matching coil. Firstly, the oscillation used in order to drive the inverter generating the output voltage must be modified by the correction device dependent on the state of the actual electrical parameters like voltage and current at the output socket. The mixing unit alters the signal emitted by the oscillator dependent on the output of the feedback circuit, e.g. the time varying output value of the feedback circuit is subtracted (or added) to the time varying driving oscillation, thereby providing a modified oscillation for driving of the inverter. To this end, the mixing unit is preferably configured to provide real-time mixing (e.g. by subtraction or addition) of time varying signals. A core aspect is, that by means of the feedback circuit and the mixing unit a shaping of the transfer function of the amplifier and the filter between the amplifier and the output can be achieved, thereby employing the filter to mimic the effect of the matching coil. By virtue of this, the filter which is needed anyway can be used in order to make the matching coil superfluous.
However, this could not work alone. Therefore, as a second key aspect it is necessary to generate the signal required for the correction device. With a physical matching coil, the combination of the actual load as experienced by the surgical instruments in combination with the physical matching coil would form a complex impedance leading to a certain phase difference of the current to the output voltage. However, lacking a physical matching coil, this phase difference cannot be measured as it depends also on the current through the matching coil which is not present. The invention thus provides for an artificial phase generator, which uses actual voltage as measured and a virtual current that combines actual output with an imaginary current through the (non-existent) matching coil. To this end, an estimator is provided that is configured to determine the virtual current which would flow as output current if the matching coil were present. By the combination of these elements the current can be determined that would be present if there was a properly dimensioned matching coil, and according to this virtual current is calculated.
Thereby, the missing current signal can be provided for determining a phase shift between actual measured voltage and the current in consideration of a properly dimensioned, but nonexistent matching coil; and a signal for this phase shift can be used to drive the correction circuit properly such as to achieve a transfer function emulating the (non-existing) matching coil. As a result, due to a reshaped transfer function by virtue of the correction device, the ultrasonic instrument receives the same voltage and current at the same phase shift as it would be if there was present the conventional, bulky and expensive matching coil. Due to this electronic emulating, this emulation is flexible and works also properly with newly developed surgical ultrasound instruments having different electrical characteristics, as opposed to matching coils which must always be tuned to the specific surgical ultrasound instrument and its electrical characteristic.
The invention thus achieves significant improvements with respect to different key aspects, namely further it is more versatile in terms of ultrasound instruments to be used and further it reduces bulk and cost of the surgical generator itself while improving flexibility in terms of ultrasound instruments that can be used, even newer ones.
In the context of the present application the term “high-frequency” relates to frequencies in the ultrasound frequency range generated by the surgical generator, typically in the range of 20 kHz to 200 kHz (ultrasound surgical generators).
The inverter is a device to provide the actual high-frequency output for the surgical ultrasound instrument to be connected to the output socket. The term inverter is rather broad and comprises actual inverter technology as well as converters and amplifiers.
The filter is located between an output of the inverter and the output socket, thereby separating the load from the output of the inverter. Typically, the filter comprises aqn in-line inductance, and further may comprise a parallel capacitor (LC-filter).
The matching coil emulation device is configured to emulate a matching coil which would conventionally be present in order to match the instrument to the surgical generator. Being an emulation device, the matching coil emulation device itself does not comprise a matching coil; it thus may be said that it is coil-less.
In the context of the present invention, an estimator is understood to be a device designed to estimate the state of a system from measurements of its outputs. It is configured to estimate a variable or state that is not, or at least not directly, accessible by using parameter and other measured variable outputted by the system. Various such estimators are known to the person skilled in the art of control systems. Non-limiting examples are observers in state-space or Wiener-Filter and Kalman-Filter.
In a preferred embodiment, the feedback circuit is configured as a state feedback. Thereby, the benefits achieved in control engineering by implementing state space can be used in an advantageous manner.
Preferably, the feedback circuit may be configured to be supplied with a signal representative for a measured output voltage and/or current as an input to the feedback circuit. Measuring output voltage and/or current is achievable in a reliable manner with a minimum of effort, in particular in consideration that for the sake of power regulation by the main control unit typically sensors for voltage and current at the output are provided anyway. So no additional cost in terms of sensors is involved by using for the feedback circuit a measured output voltage (or current) signal that is measured anyway.
Advantageously, the feedback circuit is configured as a negative feedback comprising a preselectable amplification factor which may be applied at an input of the feedback circuit. Such an amplification factor, which may also be termed k-factor, can be utilized to implement an uncomplicated and efficient feedback circuit. Preferably, the amplification factor is determined according to a ratio of filter inductivity to an inductivity value of a matching coil matched to the surgical instrument. That inductivity value is the inductivity of a physical matching coil (which is to be emulated by the present invention) would have in order to be matched to the surgical instrument. Further preferably, this ratio is further modified by the ratio of the current flowing through an in-line inductivity of the filter to the current expected to be flowing through the physical matching coil (if it were present). By employing such a ratio, also any effect of a transformer in the output line is considered, too.
Advantageously, the feedback circuit, in particular an amplification factor thereof, is set automatically according to a type of the surgical instrument. Thereby the user is freed from the task of determining the amplification factor. However, this does not rule out a manual interaction for setting the amplification factor, e.g. by the user selecting the type of instrument manually and the amplification factor thereby being set, e.g. by means of a look-up table.
Preferably, the feedback circuit is configured to output a wave signal having the same frequency as the driving oscillation but different amplitude and/or phase then said driving oscillation. By such a configuration the wave signal can be utilized rather directly for the correction device, without any need of preprocessing. This further simplifies the correction device and its operation.
In a preferred embodiment, the oscillator comprises a frequency following circuit configured to follow a frequency of the voltage at the output socket. By virtue of such a following the oscillator tracks any variation of the resonance frequency experienced at the output socket due to changing loads, in particular changing mechanical loads of the surgical ultrasound instrument connected at the output socket. Preferably, the frequency following unit comprises a phased-locked-loop circuit (PLL). This allows for an efficient and reliable tracking of the frequency at the output socket. Thereby safe and stable operation conditions can be achieved.
Further preferably, the frequency following unit is controlled by the phase signal generated by the artificial phase generator. This enables the frequency following unit to track the frequency and phase shifts at the output socket even if a direct measurement of the phase is not possible. This also ad-dresses the situation in which an actual measurement is not meaningful, i.e. an actually measured phase does not represent the phase information required for proper operation of the correction device. This is particularly useful if the phase information concerning the phase shift is artificially generated, e.g. by employing an estimator for the amplitude and phase of a current which is not directly measurable, like a virtual current.
Advantageously, the estimator for the virtual current comprises a parameter representative of the inductivity of the matching coil to be emulated. By employing such parameter, a more precise estimation can be achieved of the virtual current that would flow as output current if the matching coil were present and be connected in parallel to the surgical instrument. This parameter is preferably set depending on the type of the surgical ultrasound instrument connected to the output socket. This can be made manually or automatically. Preferably, the main control unit is configured to set this parameter. This comprises the main control unit being configured to determine the type of surgical instrument by means of a user input device, and/or to determine the type of the surgical instrument automatically by identifying the surgical ultrasound instrument, e.g. by reading out instrument data of the surgical ultrasound instrument. Thereby an efficient and easy to use way for setting the inductivity parameter is realized, which in case of automatic determination by the main control unit eliminates any risk of user error. This further enhances reliability and ultimately improves safety for the patient.
The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to an advantageous exemplary embodiment. In the figures:
The invention will be explained with respect to an exemplary embodiment of a surgical generator according to the invention. This exemplary embodiment is a surgical ultrasound generator that is identified as a whole by reference sign 1. The surgical ultrasound generator 1 comprises a housing 11 provided with a general-purpose user interface 14, a power selector knob 12 and an instrument type selector knob 13 as well as an output socket 15 for an surgical ultrasound instrument 16. The surgical ultrasound instrument 16 is connected via a cable to the output socket 15 of the surgical ultrasound generator 1.
The ultrasound surgical generator 1 is supplied by a mains cable 21 which can be connected by means of plug 20 at its end to a public electricity grid (not shown) or other suitable means of electrical supply. Thereby, electrical power is supplied to the surgical ultrasound generator 1.
A schematic functional diagram of the electrosurgical generator 1 is illustrated in
The high-frequency voltage generated by the inverter 24 is fed to an output line 25. Subsequent to the inverter 24 a filter 26 is provided which is a filter of the LC type having an in-line inductivity 26* in either line of the output line 25 and a capacitor connecting both in-line inductivities. Subsequent to the filter 26 and an optional DC blocking capacitor 28 an isolation transformer 29 is arranged which provides for isolation and stepping up of the output voltage, the output trans-former having a transmission ratio of e.g. 11. The resulting output voltage and current are sensed by a current measuring device 17 and a voltage measuring device 18 and are routed to the output socket 15 into which the surgical ultrasound instrument 16 can be plugged. The configuration from the inverter 24 to the output socket 15 forms the power section of the surgical ultrasound generator 1.
Operation of the surgical ultrasound generator 1 is controlled by a main control unit 10. It is connected to the power supply unit 22 and the inverter 24 by means of signaling lines. Further, a power feedback circuit 19 is provided to which the current and voltage measuring devices 17, 18 are connected as inputs. The feedback device 19 determines output power based on these inputs and outputs a signal representing actual out-putted power to the main control unit 10, which in turn pro-vides control signals to the inverter 24 in accordance with functions and modes set by the user by a user interface 14 and/or power selection knob 12. It further controls initial frequency f of the driving oscillator 3. This configuration described hitherto is generally known in the art and will not be further explained for the sake of brevity.
Surgical ultrasound instruments 16 comprise an ultrasound transducer (not shown) that converts electrical energy into ultrasound energy. The electric impedance of the ultrasound instrument 16 corresponds to mechanical resonance modes of the surgical ultrasound instrument 16. This mechanical resonance is affected by the mechanical load to the ultrasound instrument which is variable, e.g. depends on the tissue to be worked on by the ultrasound instrument.
As a reference, in
The invention aims at abolishing the matching coil 9. Consequently, the matching coil 9 is not existent in the exemplary embodiment as shown in the figures, and in particular in
The estimator 61 is configured to determine said virtual current as an output current, and based thereon the artificial phase generator 6 calculates a phase shift between said virtual current and the measured output voltage. To this end, the actual voltage as measured by voltage sensor 18 is supplied to a first input 62 of the estimator 61. Further, the actual current measured by current sensors 17 is supplied to a second input 63 of the estimator 61. Further, as an additional input a parameter 60 representing the inductivity value “L” of the nonexistent matching coil is set. Based on this, the estimator 61 is configured to determine the (complex) virtual current Ivirt. according to
wherein Imeas. is the current measured by the current sensors 17 and Umeas. is the voltage measured by voltage sensor 18. The value of the virtual current Ivirt. is provided at output 64 and supplied to an input 67 of a phase shift calculator 65, and to another input 66 a measured voltage signal as measured by the voltage sensor 18 is supplied. Based on these inputs there, the phase shift calculator 65 determines a phase shift between voltage and current, namely measured voltage Umeas. and the virtual current Ivirt.. A signal for this phase shift Δφa is output at line 68 from the artificial phase generator 6. This signal for the artificial phase difference Δφa is supplied to an input of a PLL 33 for frequency following of the oscillator 3.
It is worth to note that this phase shift calculated by the artificial phase generator 6—due to considering additionally the imaginary current through the emulated matching coil—is and must be different from the actual phase shift defined by actual voltage current and voltage as measured by current and voltage sensors 17, 18.
The oscillator 3 comprises a base generation unit 30 which is generating a sinewave oscillation in the depicted embodiment. The frequency of the generated oscillation is determined by the frequency following circuit 32 to which the control signal for an initial frequency f is supplied by the main control unit 10. Based on this initial frequency the oscillator 3 emits the driving oscillation at its output 34 which is supplied via a correction device 4 to the inverter 24 which acts as an amplifier. The frequency following circuit 32 further comprises said phased-locked-loop (PLL) circuit 33. It receives the phase difference signal difference Δφa via the line 68 from the artificial phase generator 6. By virtue of this, the PLL circuit 33 keeps the oscillator 3 at a constant phase shift between the measured output voltage and current, and further the oscillator 3 tracks any changes in the resonance frequency as they are experienced in the course of using the surgical ultrasound instrument 16 due to varying load conditions.
Further, the transfer function of the power section beginning with the inverter 24 is amplifier is shaped by using the correction device 4. To this end, a feedback circuit 5 is provided having an input 50 to which a voltage signal Vmeas. as measured by the voltage sensors 18 is provided. Further, as an additional input 51 a parameter “k” is provided at the feedback circuit 5.
The “k” parameter can be determined by the reciprocal of an inductivity L the matching coil 9 would have if it were present times the in-line inductance 26* which is to be doubled in this case since in both lines such an in-line inductance 26* exists. Further, in consideration of the isolation trans-former 29 a ratio between the current in the in-line filter inductance 26* and the current flowing through the matching coil 9 (if it were present) can be determined and in the present case said ratio is N=11. Assuming that the inductivity L of the matching coil 9 would be 3.3 mH and the in-line inductance 26* has 6.25 pH each, the “k” parameter can be determined to be:
Based on this, the feedback circuit 5 determines a correction value according to
−k·Vmeas.
at an output 52 of the feedback circuit 5. This is supplied to a second input 42 of a mixing unit 40 of the correction device 4. At the first input 43 of the mixing unit 40 the driving oscillation is supplied as output by the oscillator 3. Accordingly, the driving oscillation as outputted by the oscillator 3 is corrected by the output of the feedback circuit 5, and the resulting signal is supplied via line 44 to an input of the inverter 24 for amplification and outputting to output line 25.
Thus, as a result the transfer function is shaped by the correction device 4 and the phase shift between voltage and current at the output socket 15 is modified by the artificial phase generator 6. The resulting corrected oscillation supplied by line 44 is different in amplitude and phase from the original driving oscillation as outputted by the oscillator 3. This is shown in
The effect of the correction device 4 and the artificial phase generator 6 is illustrated in
Similarly, in
Accordingly, by virtue of the combination of the correction device 4 with the artificial phase generator 6 the desired effect is achieved of emulating the (physically non-existent) matching coil 9 in order to properly drive the surgical ultrasound instrument 16.
Further, in order to be capable of driving properly other types of surgical ultrasound instruments 16 requiring a different matching coil 9 to be emulated, the parameter “L” can be preselected to a different value by means of the main control unit 10 by a line 69. The type of the surgical ultrasound instrument 16 used can be selected by the user by means of knob 13 attached to the main control unit 10. Optionally, the main control unit may be set up to read out the type directly from the surgical ultrasound instrument 16 by means of a communication interface (not shown) at the output socket 15. Either way, it is therefore achieved to readily adapt the ultrasound surgical generator 1 to different types of surgical ultrasound instruments 16, even such instruments being released after the ultrasound surgical generator has been manufactured. This greatly improves versatility.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63326039 | Mar 2022 | US |
