Electrosurgical instrument
AssigneeGyrus Medical Limited
InventorJames Alan Dickson
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electrosurgical instrument end effector includes an active electrode received by an insulating material, the active electrode including a primary suction aperture which provides access to a primary fluid channel extending from the active electrode, through the insulating material, to a lumen. The lumen is arranged to carry fluid to and from a surgical site when in use. The end effector further includes at least one additional fluid channel providing alternative access to the primary fluid channel from the active electrode, wherein the at least one additional fluid channel bypasses the primary suction aperture.
Claims20
An end effector for an electrosurgical instrument, comprising:
- an active electrode received by an insulating material, the active electrode comprising a primary suction aperture which provides access to a primary fluid channel extending from the active electrode, through the insulating material, to a lumen, the lumen being arranged to carry fluid from a surgical site when in use;
- at least one additional fluid channel providing alternative access to the primary fluid channel from the active electrode, the at least one additional fluid channel bypassing the primary suction aperture;
- and
- a retainer to hold the active electrode in place, the retainer including recesses to form part of the at least one additional fluid channel.
An electrosurgical instrument, comprising:
- a hand-piece;
- an end effector;
- one or more user-operable buttons on the hand-piece that are configured to control the instrument to operate, and
- an operative shaft, having RF electrical connections, and drive componentry for the end effector;
- wherein the end effector comprises:
- an active electrode received by an insulating material, the active electrode being connected to the RF electrical connections, and comprising a primary suction aperture which provides access to a primary fluid channel extending from the active electrode, through the insulating material, to a lumen, the lumen being arranged to carry fluid from a surgical site when in use;
- at least one additional fluid channel providing alternative access to the primary fluid channel from the active electrode, the at least one additional fluid channel bypassing the primary suction aperture;
- and
- a retainer to hold the active electrode in place, the retainer including recesses to form part of the at least one additional fluid channel.
An electrosurgical system, comprising:
- an RF electrosurgical generator;
- a suction source;
- and
- an electrosurgical instrument, comprising:
- a hand-piece;
- an end effector;
- one or more user-operable buttons on the hand-piece that are configured to control the instrument to operate, and
- an operative shaft, having RF electrical connections, and drive componentry for the end effector;
- wherein:
- the end effector comprises:
- an active electrode received by an insulating material, the active electrode being connected to the RF electrical connections, and comprising a primary suction aperture which provides access to a primary fluid channel extending from the active electrode, through the insulating material, to a lumen, the lumen being arranged to carry fluid from a surgical site when in use;
- at least one additional fluid channel providing alternative access to the primary fluid channel from the active electrode, the at least one additional fluid channel bypassing the primary suction aperture;
- and
- a retainer to hold the active electrode in place, the retainer including recesses to form part of the at least one additional fluid channel;
- and
- the arrangement of the electrosurgical system is such that in use the RF electrosurgical generator supplies an RF coagulation or ablation signal via the RF electrical connections to the active electrode.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.