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:
Nov. 29, 2011
Filed:
Nov. 30, 2004
Kobi Iki, San Carlos, CA (US);
William M. Ambrisco, Mountain View, CA (US);
Douglas M. Lorang, Ripon, CA (US);
Alan P. Gannon, Amesbury, MA (US);
Richard M. Ranalli, Berwick, ME (US);
Mathew E. Mitchell, Pelham, NH (US);
Marie Meyer, Lawrence, MA (US);
Mark Markel, Middleton, WI (US);
Yan LU, Fitchburg, WI (US);
Ryland B. Edwards, Iii, Middleton, WI (US);
Kobi Iki, San Carlos, CA (US);
William M. Ambrisco, Mountain View, CA (US);
Douglas M. Lorang, Ripon, CA (US);
Alan P. Gannon, Amesbury, MA (US);
Richard M. Ranalli, Berwick, ME (US);
Mathew E. Mitchell, Pelham, NH (US);
Marie Meyer, Lawrence, MA (US);
Mark Markel, Middleton, WI (US);
Yan Lu, Fitchburg, WI (US);
Ryland B. Edwards, III, Middleton, WI (US);
Smith & Nephew, Inc., Memphis, TN (US);
Abstract
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 1×10ohm*cm. The non-conductive surface may include a ceramic such as Macor® ceramic, ZTA ceramic, and/or 99.5% alumina ceramic.