A novel reaction force‐fluorescence measurement system for evaluating pancreatic juice leakage from an excised swine pancreas during distal pancreatectomy

Abstract Background Resection using a stapler is a popular approach to distal pancreatectomy. However, the resulting leakage of pancreatic juice represents a serious problem. We have developed a force‐fluorescence measurement as a first step towards the quantitative evaluation of pancreatic leakage due to tissue tearing under compression. Methods The system comprises a testing machine with an indenter, similar in size to a stapler, which controls compression speed and measures reaction force, and a fluorescence measurement system to measure pancreatic juice leakage. Pancreatic juice leakage is measured as the maximum value of the increasing rate of fluorescence intensity (max value). Ten excised swine pancreases were compressed at a speed of 500, 100, and 10 mm/min until their thicknesses became 2 mm. Results A strong positive correlation (0.804) was observed between the increase in max value before and after compression and the amount of reaction force drop due to tissue destruction. No pancreatic juice leakage was observed when compressed slowly (10 mm/min). Conclusions We have successfully developed a novel force‐fluorescence measurement system that can detect and quantify pancreatic juice leakage caused by tissue tearing. This system can determine the optimal compression conditions for preventing pancreatic juice leakage.