Valleylab ForceTriad - Patient Return Electrodes and REM System

Return Electrodes – REM Contact Quality Monitoring System
Monopolar Function
ForceTriad User’s Guide 4-5
Return Electrodes – REM Contact Quality Monitoring System
Patient Return Electrode Considerations
During monopolar electrosurgery, a patient return electrode is always required to
safely recover the current that flows through the patient’s body and return it to the
energy platform. A reduction in surface area contact or poor conductivity between
the patient and the return electrode can cause the current to become concentrated,
potentially resulting in burns at the return electrode site.
During a surgical procedure, the amount of current delivered during a given time
period determines the amount of heating that occurs under the return electrode.
Valleylab REM patient return electrodes are designed for use during conventional
electrosurgical procedures and duty cycles (on time compared to off time). Users
should consult the Technical Specifications chapter in this manual for the
recommended maximum duty cycle specifications.
It is not possible to foresee what combination of current and duty cycle may be safely
used in every situation, such as when higher currents and/or longer duty cycles are
used on procedures such as tissue lesioning, tissue ablation, tissue vaporization, and
procedures where conductive fluid is introduced into the surgical site. Under these
conditions a greater risk may exist that the heating under a fully applied return
electrode may be high enough to injure the patient. When using a Valleylab energy
platform or a patient return electrode during these types of surgical procedures, the
user should seek written guidance in the form of detailed user instructions from the
manufacturer of the active accessory regarding the currents and duty cycles that can be
expected. In some instances, the application of additional patient return electrodes
may help mitigate the increased risk.
How the REM System Works
The ForceTriad energy platform uses the Valleylab REM contact quality
monitoring system to monitor the quality of electrical contact between the patient
return electrode and the patient. The REM system is designed to reduce the risk of
burns at the return electrode site. A non-REM return electrode is not to be used
with the ForceTriad energy platform.
The REM system continuously measures the resistance at the return electrode site
and compares it to a standard range of safe resistance (between 5 and 135 ohms),
thus eliminating intermittent false alarms that could result from small changes in
resistance. The REM system also adapts to individual patients by measuring the
initial contact resistance between the patient and the patient return electrode and
lowering the baseline resistance if the contact resistance drops.
A REM alarm sounds and the system stops producing output power when either
of the following occurs:
• The measured resistance is below 5 ohms or above 135 ohms, the limits of the
standard range of safe resistance.
• An increase in contact resistance is greater than 40% from the baseline
measurement.
Notice
Only contact quality monitoring system patient return electrodes can be used with
the ForceTriad energy platform.