Patent ID: 6761701
Filing Date: 2004-07-13
Classification: A61B,A61M,Y10S

Abstract:
Apparatus for use in liposuction treatment of tissue on a patient operably connected to an electrical grounding plate, which comprises:a hand-supportable housing having a longitudinal axis; an air-powered reciprocation mechanism disposed within said hand-supportable housing; a hollow cannula operably connectable to said hand-supportable housing having said longitudinal axis and said air-powered reciprocation mechanism and having a distal end, a proximal end, and a suction aperture disposed about said distal end, said proximal end further including an outlet port and a continuous passageway which communicates said suction aperture with said outlet port; said air-powered reciprocation mechanism automatically reciprocating said hollow cannula relative to said hand-supportable housing along said longitudinal axis so that the location of aspiration through said suction aperture is periodically displaced along said longitudinal axis, while permitting said aspiration through said suction aperture, along said continuous passageway and out of said outlet port; a radio-frequency (RF) power supply terminal disposed within said hand-supportable housing, for supplying to said hollow cannula, during liposuction operations, power signals produced by a RF power signal generator; and electro-cauterizing elements electrically connected to said RF power supply terminal, and operably associated with said hollow cannula, for conducting said RF power signals along said hollow cannula and through tissue being aspirated through said suction aperture while maintained at electrical ground potential by means of an electrical grounding plate connected to the patient, and thereby effecting coagulation of protein molecules within tissue being aspirated through said suction aperture.