Electrosurgical Units

Electrosurgery is a common technique used by clinicians in a wide variety of medical specialties. Developed as a way to make precise surgical incisions with minimal blood loss, electrosurgical units range from simple hyfrecators for office-based dermatologic procedures to full-featured electrosurgical generators for general surgery. DRE carries an extensive line of new and refurbished ESU’s in all ranges of power settings and operating features: monopolar and bipolar, low-wattage ESU’s, high-frequency desiccators, and high-wattage vessel sealing units. Premium accessories, such as patient electrodes, high-frequency handpieces and electrosurgical foot pedals are also available.

DRE offers a complete line of new or refurbished electrosurgical units from industry-leading brands.  Refurbished units are serviced and repaired to original manufacturers specifications by our trained biomedical technicians. Have a question? Our trained experts can help you decide which electrosurgical unit best fits your needs. Contact DRE at (800) 462-8195 .

Also known as Electrosurgical Generators, these devices come with a range of output levels and feature sets and are designed for different classes of surgical and anesthetic procedures.

Popular Brands

• Valleylab
• Conmed
• Erbe
• Bovie
• DRE

Types of Units / Equipment

• Desiccators / Hyfrecator - Aid in the performance of simple skin procedures
• Grounded Electrosurgical Unit - Older style units that are considered outdated.
• Isolated Power Electrosurgical Unit - Greatly improved over ground-referenced.  Uses pads to return electrical current to the unit.
• Argon Beam Electrosurgical Unit - Use of gas in conjunction with electricity.
• Smoke Evacuators - Electrosurgery typically creates smoke from procedures which can contact toxic gases and even living biohazardous material.  Smoke evacuators help greatly reduce the issues related to surgical smoke.

Operation Modes

• Monopolar Output - Current flows from the surgical site back through the return electrode.
• Bipolar Output - Lower power mode for delicate procedures.  No return electrode is used and instruments hook to a separate plug.  Not all electrosurgical units have this feature.
• Pure Cut - Units that have this setting allow for clean deep cuts with limited tissue damage.
• Blend - Pulsed bursts of coagulation to cut and seal at the same time to reduce bleeding.  Some units have a variety of Blend modes.
• Coag ( Coagulation ) - Full coagulation for thermal charring to reduce or stop bleeding.  Coag options may include Pin-Point or Spray options to target exact / limited areas for coagulation.
• Tissue Effects - More recent feature for higher end units that allows for more customization of the tissue response.
• Cut - Cuts tissue cleanly with deeper and wider cuts based on increased power.
• Desiccate - A form of low power coagulation that it drives moisture out of the tissue to eliminate targeted areas that are in contact with the electrode.
• Fulgurate - Another form of coagulation where the electrode is not in direct contact with the patient but rather uses electrical arching to char the tissue to quickly stop bleeding.
• Power - Needed power will depend on tissue impedance / resistance.  Different procedures will require different power levels.  You should only use the amount of power necessary for the type of procedure being performed.  Most modern generators have a variety of methods for adjusting power either automatically or manually.