On Lagrangian Coherent Structures in Laparoscopy

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computational fluid dynamics approach to identify Lagrangian Coherent Structures in laparoscopic flow, revealing how surgical smoke particles are transported and suggesting improvements for smoke removal.

Contribution

It presents a novel application of Lagrangian Coherent Structures analysis to model and understand flow dynamics in laparoscopic surgery for better smoke management.

Findings

LCS regions depend on inlet/outlet configurations

Flow analysis reveals key areas of particle accumulation

Method can inform improved smoke removal device design

Abstract

Laparoscopy is an electrosurgical medical operation often involving an application of high-frequency alternating current to remove undesired biological tissue from the insufflated abdomen accessible through inlet and outlets trocars. One of the main byproducts in this process are the gaseous particles, called surgical smoke, which is found hazardous for both the patient and the operating room staff. The elimination of this hazardous material is an area of active research in the medical community. Thus, understanding dynamics influenced by the underlying flow inside the abdomen is crucial. In this article, we propose a computational fluid dynamics model and analyse the velocity field in an insufflated abdomen shaped domain by identifying the Lagrangian Coherent Structures (LCS) that are responsible for the transportation, mixing and accumulation of the material particles in the flow. By calculating the mixing strength we show that the regions revealed by these material curves are dependent on the angle, positions and number of the outlets and inlets. Hence, a novel utility of LCS in medical surgery is presented that can detail the dynamics of surgical smoke informing better design of effective smoke removal technologies.