Electrosurgical instrument
AssigneeCreo Medical Limited
InventorsChristopher Paul Hancock, Julian Mark Ebbutt, Louis Turner, Simon Meadowcroft
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrosurgical vessel sealing device that can seal biological vessels using a confined microwave field that yields a well-defined seal location with low thermal margin. The device comprises a pair of jaws that are movable relative to each other to grip biological tissue. A blade for cutting the gripped tissue is slidable between the jaws. A coplanar microstrip antenna is mounted on the inner surface of one or both of the pair of jaws to emit microwave energy into the gap therebetween. The device may comprise a separate dissector element to enable fine tissue cutting and dissection to be performed.
Claims20
An electrosurgical vessel sealer comprising:
- an instrument shaft comprising a coaxial transmission line for conveying microwave electromagnetic (EM) energy;
- a distal end assembly arranged at a distal end of the instrument shaft to receive the microwave EM energy from the instrument shaft, the distal end assembly comprising:
- a pair of jaws that are movable relative to each other to open and close a gap between opposing inner surfaces thereof;
- and
- a blade for cutting through biological tissue,
- wherein the pair of jaws comprise an energy delivery structure arranged to emit the microwave EM energy into the gap between the opposing inner surfaces,
- wherein the energy delivery structure comprises a coplanar microstrip antenna mounted on the inner surface of one or both of the pair of jaws, the coplanar microstrip antenna being arranged to confine an emitted microwave field substantially within a region between the pair of jaws, and
- wherein the blade is slidably disposed within the distal end assembly to be movable through the region between the pair of jaws.
An electrosurgical vessel sealer comprising:
- an instrument shaft arranged to convey microwave electromagnetic (EM) energy and radiofrequency (RF) EM energy;
- a distal end assembly arranged at a distal end of the instrument shaft to receive the microwave EM energy and the RF EM energy from the instrument shaft, the distal end assembly comprising:
- a pair of jaws that are movable relative to each other to open and close a gap between opposing inner surfaces thereof;
- and
- a dissector element arranged to deliver the RF EM energy for cutting through biological tissue,
- wherein the pair of jaws comprise an energy delivery structure arranged to emit the microwave EM energy into the gap between the opposing inner surfaces,
- wherein the energy delivery structure is arranged to confine an emitted microwave field substantially within a region between the pair of jaws, and
- wherein the dissector element is located outside the region between the pair of jaws.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.