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US 5,224,943 AGranted
Cryosurgical apparatus
AssigneeSpembly Medical Limited
InventorRobert W. Goddard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cryosurgical probe for freezing human or animal tissue in a surgical procedure utilising the Joule Thomson effect. The probe is provided with a valve arrangement which enables selective purging and freezing cycles to be employed in rapid succession, and remote from the Joule-Thomson nozzle. In this way purging is limited to those parts of the probe which are affected by moisture contamination during the normal pre-sterilising process, and without interference with the Joule-Thomson nozzle.
Claims5
A cryosurgical probe comprising,
- a probe body,
- an operating tip at one end of said body,
- first and second passageways leading to and from a cavity in said operating tip,
- means for expanding a high pressure gas in said cavity delivered along said first passageway to cool the gas and said tip,
- valve means positioned in said probe body for controlling gas flow between said first and second passageways,
- said valve means being selectively movable in said probe body to a first position in a probe purge cycle for bypassing said expanding means to direct flow of a purging gas delivered along said second passageway to said first passageway,
- said valve means being selectively movable in said probe body to a second position in a freeze cycle for sealing said first passageway from said second passageway to direct a high pressure gas along said first passageway to said expanding means and then exhaust the gas from said cavity after expansion through said second passageway.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.