UC San Diego

Interactions between surgical implements, tissue types, and thermal injury at the surgical margin interface has clinical impacts that predict healing and disease progression. A thorough analysis of this interplay on surgical margins from human specimens is under-reported. Herein, the physiological changes associated with the healing process at the surgical interface in a human cutaneous model is described. Subsequently, an analysis of the primary thermal injury interactions based on electrosurgical blade type is evaluated for its direct effect on cancer margin determination. This analysis is then further expanded to describe the interactions between differing tissue type content near the incision site on thermal injury effects. Next, a system is proposed and tested for the intraoperative determination of cancer margins to reduce the number of second surgeries required for total tumor excision. Finally, a novel monoclonal drug assay has been developed to quantify the levels of serum monoclonal antibodies for dosage determination. Based on these findings a more comprehensive understanding of the surgical margin is provided. A further elucidation of determinants on surgical margins is necessary which should improve the diagnostic and clinical utility of the margin interface as predictors of healing and morbidity