Power-assisted liposuction instrument with cauterizing cannula assembly

An electro-cauterizing cannula assembly for use in connection with a power-assisted tissue aspiration device having a hand-holdable housing provided with (i) a power-assisted reciprocation mechanism operable within said hand-holdable housing and (ii) a pair of power supply terminals for supplying a radio-frequency (RF) power signal to an electro-cauterizing cannula assembly during tissue aspiration operations, said electro-cauterizing cannula assembly being operably connectable to said hand-holdable housing and comprising:

• a hollow inner cannula having a distal end and a proximal end and an inner suction aperture about said inner cannula distal end, said inner cannula proximal end further including an outlet port and a continuous passageway which communicates said inner suction aperture with said outlet port, and
• a hollow outer cannula having a distal end and a proximal end and an outer suction aperture about said outer cannula distal end, said hollow inner cannula being disposed within at least a portion of said hollow outer cannula while permitting aspiration of tissue through said outer and inner suction apertures, along said continuous passageway and out of said outlet port,
• said hollow inner cannula being operably associatable with said power-assisted reciprocation mechanism, and said hollow outer cannula being essentially stationary with respect to said hand-holdable housing, so as to effectuate relative sliding movement between said hollow inner and outer cannulas when said power-assisted reciprocation mechanism reciprocates, so that the location of said aspiration through said outer and inner suction apertures is periodically displaced;
• and
• electro-cauterizing conductors associated with said hollow inner and outer cannulas, for conducting said RF power signal along said hollow inner and outer cannulas and effecting coagulation of protein molecules within the tissue being aspirated through said outer and inner suction apertures.