Surgical assembly, system and electrode assembly

A surgical assembly for use in performing a surgical procedure on a patient, the assembly comprising:

• a surgical tool comprising a tool-piece disposed at a distal end thereof, the tool-piece being arranged to receive a first signal for use in cutting or cauterizing tissue of the patient during the surgical procedure;
• an electrode disposed upon the tool, the electrode being offset from the surgical tool, such that a proximal end of the electrode is radially spaced from the surgical tool and a distal end of the electrode is longitudinally spaced from the distal end of the surgical tool;
• a DC electrical generator communicatively couplable with the electrode, for generating a second signal for use in generating an electrical field from the electrode proximate a site of the surgical procedure, for removing particles suspended proximate the surgical site by electrostatic precipitation;
• a controller for controlling the application of the second signal to the electrode;
• and
• a sensing arrangement communicatively coupled with the controller, the sensing arrangement being arranged to sense an activation status of the first signal and to output a sensing signal to the controller in dependence of the activation status;
• and a bleed circuit comprising a bleed resistor configured to discharge from the tool-piece a residual charge generated by the second signal;
• the controller is arranged to enable the application of the second signal to the electrode only upon receiving a sensing signal representative of an activation of the first signal the bleed resistor is configured to discharge the residual charge throughout the activation of the second signal;
• the electrical generator comprises a closed loop control circuit for monitoring a proximity of the electrode to patient tissue;
• and
• the closed loop control circuit comprises a voltage monitoring device for monitoring the voltage at a distal end of the electrode such that, in the event that the voltage at the distal end of the electrode falls below a threshold value indicative of the electrode being positioned too close to the patient tissue to create a potential difference between the electrode and the patient tissue for ionizing surgical particles and smoke, the closed loop control circuit prevents/terminates the application of the second signal to the electrode.

A surgical system for use in performing a surgical procedure on a patient, the system comprising:

• a surgical tool comprising a tool-piece disposed at a distal end thereof, a surgical generator communicatively couplable with the tool-piece, for generating a first signal for use in cutting or cauterizing tissue of the patient during the surgical procedure;
• an electrode disposed upon the tool, the electrode being offset from the surgical tool, such that a proximal end of the electrode is radially spaced from the surgical tool and a distal end of the electrode is longitudinally spaced from the distal end of the surgical tool;
• a DC electrical generator communicatively couplable with the electrode, for generating a second signal for use in generating an electrical field from the electrode proximate a site of the surgical procedure, for removing particles suspended proximate the surgical site by electrostatic precipitation;
• a controller for controlling the application of the second signal to the electrode;
• and
• a sensing arrangement communicatively coupled with the controller, the sensing arrangement being arranged to sense an activation status of the first signal and to output a sensing signal to the controller in dependence of the activation status;
• and
• a bleed circuit comprising a bleed resistor configured to discharge from the tool piece a residual charge generated by the second signal, wherein:
• the controller is arranged to enable the application of the second signal to the electrode only upon receiving a sensing signal representative of an activation of the first signal and the bleed resistor is configured to discharge the residual charge from the tool-piece throughout the activation of the second signal.