Cutting loop for an electrocautery probe

• US 5,919,190 A
• Filed: 05/27/1997
• Issued: 07/06/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Endomedical Concepts, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Gregg A. Vandusseldorp
• Inventors: VanDusseldorp, Gregg A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lavinder, Jack W.
• Assistant Examiner(s): RUDDY, DAVID M
• Application Number:
  US08/863,858
• Time in Patent Office: 770 Days
• Field of Search: 606/41-50
• US Class Current: 606/46
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/1485 having a short rigid shaft for accessing the inner body through natural openings
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 18/149 bow shaped or with rotatable body at cantilever end, e.g. for resectoscopes, or coagulating rollers

Abstract

A cutting loop (212) for an electrocautery probe (210). The cutting loop (212) includes a conductor member having a cutting portion (214) with a proximal edge (214a) and a distal edge (214b), the proximal edge (214a) being adapted for creating an incision, i.e., resecting human tissue as the cutting loop (212) is traversed in a cutting direction approximately perpendicular to the proximal face (212a). During the resection procedure, the cutting portion defines a cutting plane that is generally parallel to the surface of the tissue being resected. The proximal face (214a) of the cutting portion (214) is characterized as flat or blunt, and is oriented to be substantially perpendicular to both the cutting direction and the cutting plane. The flat or blunt shape of the proximal face (214a) enhances the current distribution characteristics of the cutting loop (212). Preferably, the conductor member is generally U-shaped and the cutting portion (214) has a substantially rectangular cross-section, such that the proximal and distal faces (214a, 214b) of the cutting portion (214) are substantially parallel to each other. The rectangular cross-section of the cutting portion (214) may be substantially uniform, or may be variable along the length of the cutting portion (214). According to the invention, the rectangular cross-section of the cutting portion (214) further promotes the enhanced current distribution of the cutting loop (212). The conductor member may include a trailing portion (216) adjacent and spaced apart from the cutting portion in the cutting plane.

Claims

1. A cutting loop for an electrocautery probe, the cutting loop comprising a conductor member bifurcated between two opposite ends thereof so as to define a cutting portion and a trailing portion spaced apart from the cutting portion, the trailing portion being interconnected with the cutting portion only at the opposite ends of the conductor member so as to form a continuous slot therebetween, the cutting portion having a proximal face and a distal face, the proximal face having a uniform height and being planar between said opposite ends the proximal face being adapted for resecting human tissue as the conductor member is traversed in a cutting direction approximately perpendicular to the proximal face so as to produce a cutting plane approximately perpendicular to the proximal face, the proximal face having at least a portion which is substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane and the cutting direction.

2. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, wherein the cutting portion of the conductor member has a substantially uniform rectangular cross-section.

3. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, wherein the cutting portion has a lower surface and an upper surface parallel to and oppositely-disposed from the lower surface, the upper and lower surfaces of the cutting portion being substantially perpendicular to the proximal face of the cutting portion, the upper and lower surfaces of the cutting portion having at least portions that are not parallel to the cutting plane.

4. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, wherein the trailing portion is spaced apart from the cutting portion in the cutting plane and adjacent the distal face of the cutting portion.

5. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, wherein the trailing portion has a rectangular cross-section so as to define a proximal face, a distal face parallel to and oppositely-disposed from the proximal face, a lower surface, and an upper surface parallel to and oppositely-disposed from the lower surface, the trailing portion being adapted to trail the cutting portion as the conductor member is traversed in the cutting plane such that the proximal and distal faces of the trailing portion are substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane.

6. A cutting loop as recited in claim 5, wherein the cutting portion has a rectangular cross-section that is substantially identical to the rectangular cross-section of the trailing portion.

7. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, further comprising a pair of arms from and between which the conductor member is supported.

8. A cutting loop as recited in claim 1, wherein the conductor member is substantially U-shaped so as to have two substantially straight portions interconnected with an arcuate portion, the cutting and trailing portions intersecting only within the straight portions of the conductor member.

9. A cutting loop for an electrocautery probe, the cutting loop comprising:

a pair of arms; and

a substantially U-shaped conductor member supported by and between the pair of arms, the conductor member being bifurcated between two opposite ends thereof so as to define a cutting portion and a trailing portion that are interconnected only at the opposite ends of the conductor member so as to form a continuous slot therebetween, the cutting portion having a rectangular and uniform cross-section between said opposite ends so as to define a proximal face, a distal face parallel to and oppositely-disposed from the proximal face, a lower surface, and an upper surface parallel to and oppositely-disposed from the lower surface, the proximal face being adapted for resecting human tissue as the conductor member is traversed in a cutting direction in a cutting plane approximately parallel to the upper and lower surfaces such that the proximal and distal faces are substantially perpendicular to the cutting plane.

10. A cutting loop as recited in claim 9, wherein the cutting portion of the conductor member has a substantially uniform rectangular cross-section.

11. A cutting loop as recited in claim 9, wherein the trailing portion is spaced apart from the cutting portion in the cutting plane, adjacent the distal face of the cutting portion, and has a rectangular cross-section substantially identical to the rectangular cross-section of the cutting portion.

12. A cutting loop as recited in claim 9, wherein the conductor member has two substantially straight portions interconnected with an arcuate portion, the cutting and trailing portions intersecting only within the straight portions of the conductor member.