Patent ID: 6190386
Filing Date: 2001-02-20
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A bipolar electrosurgical coagulation instrument comprising:(a) a first tube member having a proximal end and a distal end;(b) a second tube member coaxially disposed within the lumen of the first tube member and having a proximal end and a distal end;(c) a first conductor and a second conductor, said first and second conductors extending longitudinally through the second tube member in side-by-side relation and insulated from one another along the length thereof, each of said conductors having a proximal end and a distal end, said distal end of each of said conductors being free of insulation over a first predetermined zone, the distal ends of said conductors in said first zone being in parallel, face-to-face relation with respect to one another, with the first conductor having secured thereto a first pad forming a first forceps jaw and the second conductor having secured thereto a second pad forming a second forceps jaw, said conductors each including a second zone, proximal and contiguous to the first zone, in which said conductors are bent to create a ramp surface selectively engageable by the distal end of the second tube member when the second tube member is translated in the distal direction within the lumen of the first tube member;(d) an electrically conductive first wire and an electrically conductive second wire extending from an electrically insulated, exteriorly-accessible, movable knob member through the lumen of the first tube member alongside the second tube member to respectively terminate as a first needle electrode within a first electrically conductive bore disposed in the first pad and a second needle electrode within a second electrically conductive bore disposed in the second pad; and(e) a handle means operatively coupled to the proximal end of the first tube member, the proximal end of the second tube member, and the proximal ends of the conductors for translational, longitudinal, reciprocal motion to the second elongated tube member within the lumen of the first tube member without displacing said conductors; and(f) means for delivering high frequency energy to the first and second conductors.