Bipolar electrosurgical instrument for sealing vessels
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A bipolar electrosurgical instrument has opposable seal surfaces on its jaws for grasping and sealing vessels and vascular tissue. Inner and outer instrument members allow arcuate motion of the seal surfaces. An open lockbox provides a pivot with lateral support to maintain alignment of the lateral surfaces. Ratchets on the instrument members hold a constant closure force on the tissue during the seal process. A shank portion on each member is tuned to provide an appropriate spring force to hold the seal surfaces together. During surgery, the instrument can be used to grasp and clamp vascular tissue and apply bipolar electrosurgical current through the clamped tissue. In one embodiment, the seal surfaces are partially insulated to prevent a short circuit when the instrument jaws are closed together. In another embodiment, the seal surfaces are removably mounted on the jaws.
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Citations
33 Claims
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1-14. -14. (canceled)
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15. A bipolar electrosurgical instrument, comprising:
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inner and outer members each including a jaw member having an opposable seal surface disposed thereon, the inner and outer members being movable from a first position wherein the opposable seal surfaces are disposed in spaced-apart relation relative to one another to a second position to facilitate grasping tissue between the opposable seal surfaces;
at least one connector in electrical communication with the opposable seal surfaces and adapted to electrically couple the opposable seal surfaces to a source of electrosurgical energy to facilitate conducting electrosurgical energy through tissue disposed therebetween during usage of the instrument; and
a ratchet disposed on one of the inner and outer members and at least one complementary interlocking mechanical interface disposed on the other of the inner and outer members, at least one of the ratchet and the interlocking mechanical interface including a selectively engageable insulative insert configured to insulate the inner and outer members from one another, the ratchet and the complementary interlocking mechanical interface defining at least one interlocking position to maintain a closure pressure in the range of about 3 kg/cm2 to about 16 kg/cm2 between opposable seal surfaces. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification