Surgery – Instruments – Electrical application
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-17
2004-01-20
Peffley, Michael (Department: 3739)
Surgery
Instruments
Electrical application
C606S046000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06679882
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an electrosurgical device for coagulating and for making incisions in or severing tissue such as for instance blood vessels, said device comprising at least one immobilizing means for immobilizing a tissue portion to be coagulated and incised and first electrical means for applying a first electric power to the tissue portion immobilized by the immobilizing means for coagulating at least part of said tissue portion.
An electrosurgical device of this type is disclosed in U.S. pat. No. 5,445,638 to Rydell et al. In this known device two moveable forceps jaws are provided for clamping the tissue portion therebetween, the forceps jaws being provided with electrical means to provide electric power for coagulating the tissue portion clamped therebetween. A cutting instrument with one or more cutting edges is provided for being moved between the forceps jaws for mechanically cutting the tissue portion after coagulation thereof has taken place.
When tissue such as for instance a blood vessel has been coagulated, the tissue often becomes relatively tough requiring a relatively large force to be exerted on the cutting instrument to perform the required incision. Furthermore each incision dulls the cutting edge thereby requiring even larger force for each incision. In many cases, the cutting edge has been dulled so much after one or two incisions that the device must be replaced if, as is often the case, several incision are to be performed during the same operation. As the device normally is intended to be discarded after use, this is expensive, and furthermore it is not desirable to have to re-move and introduce such devices during such surgery.
When tissue such as for instance a blood vessel or other tissue is coagulated through the supply of electric power to the blood vessel or other tissue, a risk exists of generating excessive carbonization or charting of the tissue through the supply of electric power to the tissue and further a disadvantage of generating smoke through the heating of the tissue in question through the evaporation of water and/or through possible carbonization or charring of the tissue through the supply of power to the tissue. It is to be understood that the generation of any excessive carbonization or charring of the tissue of a patient in itself constitutes a risk to the individuals' health and may cause serious injuries and possibly also give origin to cancer diseases It is also to be understood that the generation of smoke may on the one hand slow down the overall operation and prolongate the operation, which also may cause a risk to the patients' health, and on the other hand increasse the risk of the surgeon using the electrosurgical device incorrectly and thereby causing harm or injury to the patient.
Additionally, because of the toughness of the tissue and the manual application of the cutting force, the manipulation of the device is less smooth and easy than desirable, and the cutting operation may give rise to a snap-like reaction which is undesirable in this type of surgery.
A main object of the invention is thus to provide an electrosurgical device of the type in reference by means of which multiple incisions may be performed with the same device and without the disadvantages of the known device described above.
A further object of the invention is to provide an electrosurgical device of the type in reference by means of which the risk of generation of smoke through evaporation of water and/or carbonization or charring of the tissue through the supply of electric power to the tissue is to a great extent reduced or eliminated.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by providing the device with at least one electric power application means for applying a second electric power to at least part of said tissue portion for making incisions in said tissue portion, and by providing the device with at least one tubular element for supplying an electrically non-conductive, cooling liquid to the tissue portion, to which electric power is applied for making the incisions.
The invention, to be more precise, relates to an electrosurgical device for coagulation and for making incisions in or severing tissue such as for instance blood vessels, said device comprising:
at least one immobilizing means for immobilizing a tissue portion to be coagulated and incised,
first electrical means for applying a first electric power to the tissue portion immobilized by the immobilizing means for coagulating at least part of said tissue portion,
at least one electric power application means for applying a second electric power to at least part of said tissue portion for making incisions in said tissue portion and
at least one tubular element for supplying an electrically non-conductive, cooling liquid to said tissue portion.
Hereby, the second electric power applied gives rise to a thermal influence on the tissue portion whereby the incision is performed by the effects of the thermal influence which is not subject to alteration from incision to incision and therefore gives uniform handling characteristics as well as a smooth and easy operation because the toughness of the tissue has very reduced or no effect on the force to be exerted for performing the incision. By thermal Influence is meant herein the diverse effects of electric power applied to tissue and which are well known to those skilled in the art. Through the supply of the electrically non-conductive, cooling liquid to the tissue portion to which electric power is applied, the tissue is cooled and in particular any surface charring is to a great extent reduced or eliminated preventing the generation of smoke through charring and evaporation of water from the tissue.
Although, for some uses, it may be advantageous to combine a mechanical cutting effect with the thermal cutting effect for instance by providing the electric power application means according to the invention with a mechanical cutting edge, in the currently preferred device according to the invention, the electric power application means are configured such, for instance being blunt, that the incision or severing is substantially exclusively achieved by means of said second electric power.
Hereby it is achieved that the cutting characteristics of the device are not influenced at all by any dulling of a cutting edge. Furthermore, this feature is advantageous in that the risk of cutting through tissue that has not ben adequately coagulated for eliminating bleeding is greatly reduced or eliminated because the thermal effect of the second electric power applied by the electric power application means will tend to coagulate any tissue that has not been sufficiently coagulated by the application of the first electric power.
In the known device described above, the severing of a blood vessel, for instance, where the coagulation has not been performed correctly or in-sufficiently will give rise to bleeding when the blood vessel is severed by the cutting edge while the device according to the invention will tend to coagulate any insufficiently coagulated tissue or blood while performing the severing operation. This affords a device with a greatly increased safety margin whereby complications during surgery are reduced both in number and severity.
According to the invention and depending on the characteristics of the surgery to be performed, the first and/or the second electrical power may be constituted by an electric current signal, an electric voltage signal or a combination thereof, and the signal may be a DC or AC signal such as a LF, an HF or an RF signal for instance a VHF, a UHF or a microwave signal.
In the currently preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, the first and second electric powers are obtained by means of substantially identical electric current or voltage signals. Hereby a common, relatively inexpensive signal generating means may be employed for generating the required signals. However, for some applications it may be advantageous that the respective electric current o
Lina Medical APS
Merchant & Gould P.C.
Peffley Michael
LandOfFree
Electrosurgical device for coagulating and for making... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Electrosurgical device for coagulating and for making..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Electrosurgical device for coagulating and for making... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3196507