Electrosurgical instrument

Abstract

The invention relates to an electrosurgical instrument comprising two limbs that have an articulated connection and that can be actuated in the manner of a cutting or a clamping tool. The instrument also comprises opposing electrode parts with coagulation surfaces on distal ends of its limbs for holding a vessel or tissue and for passing a current through said vessel or tissue to cause it to coagulate. At least one electrode part has an open region that acts as a guide gap for a cutting instrument, so that the electrode part(s) is/are divided into at least two areas and the cutting instrument can be applied to the clamped vessel or tissue to execute a cutting operation. In addition, current supply devices supply the coagulation current from a high-frequency generator to the electrode parts. The improved configuration of said electrosurgical instrument allows the open region on the electrode part(s) to afford optimal guidance of a cutting instrument, whereby said open region can be easily prepared for additional cutting operations and/ or be subjected to an after-treatment. To achieve this, the two or more open regions of the electrode part(s) comprise respective opposing separation surfaces that taper in the direction of the coagulation surfaces.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.