Patent ID: 6210409
Filing Date: 2001-04-03
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
In an electrosurgical bipolar handpiece comprising an elongated tubular first member having a first end and a remote flexible second end, an elongated tubular second member located within the first member, with said second member comprising an electrically-insulating tube having a first end and a remote flexible second end adjacent the first member's second end and comprising electrically-insulating means dividing the second tube into first and second compartments, and with first and second electrically-conductive wires each positioned, respectively, in the first and second compartments and electrically-insulated from each other,and with first means connected to the first member at its first end for applying electrosurgical bipolar currents to the first and second wires, and second means connected to the first member at its first end for selectively flexing the remote flexible end of the first member relative to the first end of the first member together with the remote flexible end of the second member, and further comprising electrically-insulated electrosurgical electrodes connected to the first and second wires and extendable at the remote flexible end, such that said electrosurgical electrodes can flex together with the remote flexible ends when the second means is operated while maintaining them electrically-insulated, the improvement comprising:(a) said electrosurgical electrodes comprising first and second bare prongs laterally spaced apart by a distance approximating the size of a blood vessel in a living patient.