The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 17, 2002
Filed:
Jan. 10, 2000
Timothy E. Moutafis, Gloucester, MA (US);
Donald C. Freeman, Jr., Burlington, MA (US);
Kevin Staid, Lowell, MA (US);
Andy H. Levine, Newton, MA (US);
Hydrocision, Inc., Andover, MA (US);
Abstract
The present invention provides a series of devices for performing surgical procedures utilizing electrodes for performing electrocautery on a tissue of the body of a patient. The invention includes, in one aspect, a series of devices comprising surgical instruments providing at least one electrode for performing electrocautery, and, in another aspect, provides a method for cutting and cauterizing tissue with a surgical instrument. In yet another aspect, the invention involves a method for detecting the location of a bleeding vessel in a liquid-filled, visually monitored surgical field of a patient and for electrocauterizing the vessel to stop the bleeding before visualization of the surgical field is compromised. Preferred surgical instruments according to the invention also include operable components for forming a liquid cutting jet for cutting or ablating tissue of a patient and/or for providing a rotating, tissue contacting component for cutting, grinding, ablating, etc. tissue during a surgical procedure. Some surgical instruments, according to the invention, include one or more liquid conducting lumen therein for transporting and/or removing a liquid from a surgical operating field, which lumen, in some cases, are selectively coated with a layer of an electrically insulating material so that certain, selected, uncoated regions of an external surface of the lumen can act as an electrocautery electrode of the instrument.