Electrosurgical system
AssigneeGyrus Medical Limited
InventorsAlistair I. Fleming, Huw L. Jones
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrosurgical system comprises a generator and an instrument including a first electrode, a second electrode, and an insulating spacer separating the first and second electrodes. The generator repeatedly measures a characteristic of the radio frequency output such as the impedance between the first and second electrodes. The generator analyses the impedance measurements, and interrupts the radio frequency signal when the rate of change of the impedance is such as to indicate the onset of a “flare-out”. In this way, the power is reduced before the flare-out leads to permanent damage or failure of the instrument.
Claims18
An electrosurgical system including:
- a radio frequency generator;
- an electrosurgical instrument comprising at least first and second electrodes and an insulating spacer separating the first and second electrodes, the radio frequency generator being adapted to supply a radio frequency signal between the first and second electrodes;
- means for measuring a characteristic of the output of the radio frequency generator;
- and
- a controller adapted to analyse the measured characteristic and change the radio frequency signal supplied between the first and second electrodes when an aspect of the characteristic meets a predetermined criterion indicating the onset of a “flare-out”.
An electrosurgical system including:
- a radio frequency generator;
- an electrosurgical instrument comprising at least first and second electrodes and an insulating spacer separating the first and second electrodes, the radio frequency generator being adapted to supply a radio frequency signal between the first and second electrodes;
- means for measuring the impedance between the first and second electrodes;
- and
- a controller adapted to analyse the impedance measurements and interrupt the radio frequency signal supplied between the first and second electrodes when the changeability of the impedance exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
An electrosurgical generator for supplying radio frequency power to an electrosurgical instrument which includes at least first and second electrodes, the radio frequency generator including:
- i) a radio frequency output stage having at least a pair of RF output lines for connection to the first and second electrodes respectively,
- ii) a power supply coupled to the output stage for supplying power to the output stage, and
- iii) a controller capable of varying the RF signal applied to the RF output lines,
- wherein there are provided means for measuring a characteristic of the radio frequency signal across the output lines, the controller being adapted to analyse the measured characteristic and change the radio frequency signal supplied to the output stage when an aspect of the characteristic meets a predetermined criterion indicating the onset of a “flare-out”.
An electrosurgical generator for supplying radio frequency power to an electrosurgical instrument which includes at least first and second electrodes, the radio frequency generator including:
- i) a radio frequency output stage having at least a pair of RF output lines for connection to the first and second electrodes respectively,
- ii) a power supply coupled to the output stage for supplying power to the output stage, and
- iii) a controller capable of varying the RF signal applied to the RF output lines,
- wherein there are provided means for measuring the impedance across the output lines, the controller being adapted to analyse the impedance measurements and interrupt the radio frequency signal supplied to the output stage when the changeability of the impedance exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
A method of cutting tissue at a target site comprising:
- i) providing a bipolar cutting blade comprising first and second electrodes and an electrical insulator spacing apart the electrodes,
- ii) bringing the blade into position with respect to the target site such that one electrode is in contact with tissue at the target site and the other is adjacent thereto,
- iii) supplying an electrosurgical voltage to the cutting blade such that arcing does not occur in air between the first and second electrodes but that arcing does occur between one of the electrodes and the tissue at the target site,
- iv) measuring the impedance between the first and second electrodes, and
- v) interrupting the electrosurgical voltage when the changeability of the impedance exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
An electrosurgical system comprising a radio frequency generator having a pair of output terminals, and an electrosurgical instrument having a bipolar electrode assembly in the form of first and second electrodes adjacent each other and insulated from each other by a spacer, the electrodes being connectible to the output terminals, wherein the generator includes means for generating a monitoring signal representative of an electrical parameter associated with signals developed across the electrodes, and a controller responsive to the monitoring means to change the radio frequency signal supplied by the generator to the instrument when the monitoring signal meets a predetermined criterion indicative of the onset of flare-out.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.