How secure are the arteries occluded by a newly developed ultrasonically activated device?

Background: We developed a new ultrasonically activated device (USAD) for e ndoscopic surgery. The current investigation was conducted to evaluate the security of the arteries occluded and divided by this USAD, Methods: The intraperitoneal arteries of anesthetized Living pigs were indi vidually occluded by the USAD at power levels of 70% or 100%. The burst pre ssures of the harvested arteries were measured in vitro. For comparison, ar teries occluded by laparoscopic clips or silk ligatures were evaluated in t he same manner. Results: The pressures to burst the occluded artery ranged from 353 to 2,14 8 mmHg with an average of 1,204 mmHg in the USAD group at 70% power level; from 324 to 2,207 mmHg with an average of 1,193 mmHg in the USAD group at 1 00% power level; from 794 to 1,868 mmHg with an average of 1,421 mmHg in th e clip group; and from 618 to 3,207 mmHg with an average of 1,586 mmHg in t he silk ligature,group. Conclusion: The data suggest the improbability that small to medium-size ar teries appropriately occluded and divided by the USAD can burst when expose d to intravascular pressures commonly found in living animals.