Product Overview

Early in 2003 SRA Developments introduced an innovative advance to the field of ultrasonic surgical scalpel technology. Our Lotus product range is the culmination of five years intense research and development to move the haemostatic cutting of soft tissue using ultrasound into a new dimension, literally.

Lotus is a registered trademark and acronym for:
Laparoscopic Operation by Torsional UltraSound

For almost a hundred and fifty years electric current has been used to cauterize tissue before, during and after surgical cutting. This is particularly important in laparoscopic surgery where heamostasis (the control or prevention of bleeding during disection of tissue containing blood vessels) is vital to preserve visibility and avoid rapid or uncontrollable blood loss necessitating manual intervention (negating the whole point of a laparoscopic procedure). Intense heat produced by the electric current coagulates cells, much like egg white when it is heated, and closes off vessels. Inadequate control of the energy delivery can lead to burns and tissue damage and, in the early 90’s, ultrasound was applied to the problem. Natural advantages in controlled power delivery as well as the possibility of simultaneous coagulation, cut and manipulation of tissue resulted in ultrasonic scalpels securing a significant portion of the haemostatic cutting market.

Not surprisingly however, ultrasonic devices have had their disadvantages: they
were cumbersome, expensive and often tediously slow, but all this has changed
with Lotus.