Shapeable electrosurgical scalpel

A hand-held electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a handle which has a proximal end and a distal end;
• and
• a blunt-ended elongated manually shapeable cutting electrode which has a proximal portion, a tapered portion and a distal portion, which is slidably secured by its proximal portion within the handle, which is formed at least in part of a conductive metallic material, which has an active exposed section including the distal portion and at least part of the intermediate tapered portion configured for a sweeping cutting motion with a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than about 0.03 inch.

A hand-held bipolar electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a) a handle having proximal and distal ends;
• and
• b) an elongated bipolar electrode assembly which has a proximal portion, a distally tapering intermediate portion and a distal portion, which is slidably secured by its proximal portion to the distal end of the handle, which has an elongated manually shapeable primary cutting electrode with a blunt free end having an active exposed section with a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than about 0.03 inch and a length of at least about 0.25 inch and which has a return electrode comprising a sleeve electrode disposed about the primary electrode proximal to the active exposed section.

The method of claim 64 wherein the electrical current passed to the cutting electrode is controlled based upon a first voltage setpoint at the initiation of the cutting tissue and on a second voltage setpoint after the initiation of the cutting tissue.

A hand-held electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a handle which has a proximal end, a distal end, and an inner lumen;
• and
• an elongated manually shapeable cutting electrode, which is formed at least In part of a conductive metallic material, which has a proximal portion slidably secured within said inner lumen of the handle, which has a distally tapering intermediate portion and a distal portion with a blunt free distal end and which has an exposed active section over a length of at least about 0.25 inch with a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than about 0.03 inch.

A hand-held electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a handle which has a proximal end and a distal end;
• and
• an elongated manually shapeable cutting electrode which has a proximal portion, a distally tapering intermediate portion and a distal portion with a blunt free distal end, which has a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than about 0.03 inch over a length of at least 0.25 inch, which is secured by its proximal portion within the handle and which is formed at least in part of a conductive metallic material selected from the group consisting of tungsten, tungsten alloys, stainless steel, and combinations thereof.

A hand-held bipolar electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a) a handle having proximal and distal ends;
• and
• b) an elongated manually shapeable bipolar electrode assembly which has proximal portion, a tapering intermediate portion and a distal portion, which is slidably secured by its proximal portion to the distal end of the handle, which has an elongated primary electrode with a blunt free distal end, an active exposed section having a length of at least about 0.25 inch and a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than about 0.03 inch over the length, and which has a return electrode with a sleeve electrode disposed about the primary electrode.

A hand-held electrosurgical cutting device comprising:

• a. a handle which has a proximal end and a distal end;
• and
• b. an elongated manually shapeable cutting electrode which has a proximal portion, a tapering intermediate portion having a maximum transverse dimension of not greater than 0.03 inch and a distal portion, which is secured by its proximal portion to the handle, which is formed at least in part of a conductive metallic material and which has an active exposed surface having a length of at least 0.5 inch, at least part of which extends over the intermediate portion.