Smith + Nephew

Ryland B Edwards, Iii

Kobi Iki

Mark D Markel

Alan P Gannon

William M Ambrisco

Douglas M Lorang

Richard Ranalli

Mathew Erle Mitchell

Yan Lu

Matthew E Mitchell

Marie Meyer

An electrosurgical instrument for ablating cartilage while limiting collateral damage includes a non-conducting head with a small electrically conductive surface. The head of the instrument is coupled to a shaft by a flexible portion. The flexible portion biases the electrically conductive surface towards a tissue surface. The head is pivotably coupled to the shaft such that the electrically conductive surface is oriented substantially parallel to the tissue surface as the head slides across the tissue surface. A method of performing electrosurgery includes positioning the electrically conductive surface adjacent to the tissue surface, and sliding the shaft across the tissue surface with the head pivoting such that the electrically conductive surface is oriented substantially parallel to the tissue surface.

Cartilage treatment probe

An electrosurgical instrument includes a shaft, a flexible portion, and a head coupled to the shaft through the flexible portion and pivotably coupled to the flexible portion. The head includes a non-conductive surface and an electrically conductive surface. The flexible portion is configured to bias the non-conductive surface and the electrically conductive surface towards a tissue surface, such as cartilage. The non-conductive surface may include a material having a thermal conductivity less than or equal to about 30 W/m*K and/or a volume resistivity greater than or equal to about 1&#xd7;10ohm*cm. The non-conductive surface may include a ceramic such as Macor&#xae; ceramic, ZTA ceramic, and/or 99.5% alumina ceramic.

Growing community of inventors

Middleton, WI, United States of America

Ryland B Edwards, Iii