Patent ID: 6451017
Filing Date: 2002-09-17
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
A device comprising:a surgical instrument having a distal end adapted to perform a surgical procedure on a patient, and a proximal end including a body and adapted to be controllable by an operator, the instrument including: a pressure lumen having sufficient burst strength to conduct a high pressure liquid towards the distal end of the instrument, the pressure lumen including at least one nozzle providing a jet opening and being shaped to form a liquid cutting jet as a liquid at high pressure flows therethrough; an evacuation lumen, including a jet-receiving opening locatable opposite the jet opening at a predetermined distance therefrom to receive the liquid cutting jet when the instrument is in operation; a rotatable shaft; a surgical component drivable by the shaft, constructed and arranged for contact with tissue in a surgical operating field; and at least two electrocautery electrodes operable in a bipolar mode, with each electrode being positioned at the distal end of the surgical instrument, wherein at least one of the at least two electrocautery electrodes comprises a portion of an external surface of at least one of the pressure lumen and the evacuation lumen.