Patent ID: 7678105
Filing Date: 2010-03-16
Classification: A61B

Abstract:
1. A tissue sealing apparatus for coaptively sealing a sidewall of biological tissue which surrounds and defines an opening in the tissue to occlude the opening permanently, comprising: a handpiece having movable jaws to compress apposed portions of the sidewall with sufficient pressure for sealing the opening; an electrical energy generator connected to the handpiece and operative to conduct sufficient electrical energy to the jaws and through the compressed apposed portions of the sidewall during a treatment cycle to fuse together permanently the apposed sidewall portions and permanently occlude the opening, the energy delivered from the generator includes RF current delivered in RF cycles, each RF cycle of the RF current having a peak current value, the treatment cycle having an initial heating phase during which the peak current values of the RF current cycles have initial peak current values and also having a reduction phase during which the peak current values of the RF current cycles diminish from the initial peak current values due to the desiccation of the tissue and an increase in the impedance of the tissue; a controller connected to control the duration of the electrical energy conducted from the generator to the handpiece and through the compressed apposed sidewall portions to avoid inadequate and excessive energy application for coaptively sealing the tissue, the controller including: