Patent Description:
The standard means for controlling traumatic and surgical blood loss are electrosurgical generators and lasers which respectively direct high-frequency electrical currents or light energy to localize heat in bleeding vessels so as to coagulate the overlying blood and vessel walls. Hemostasis and tissue destruction are of critical importance when removing abnormal tissue during surgery and therapeutic endoscopy. For monopolar electrosurgery electrical energy originates from an electrosurgical generator and is applied to target tissue via an active electrode that typically has a small cross-sectional surface-area to concentrate electrical energy at the surgical site. An inactive return electrode or patient plate that is large relative to the active electrode contacts the patient at a location remote from the surgical site to complete and electrical circuit through the tissue. For bipolar electrosurgery, a pair of active electrodes are used and electrical energy flows directly through the tissue between the two active electrodes.

<CIT>disclosed a variety of different electrosurgical effects that can be achieved depending primarily on the characteristics of the electrical energy delivered from the electrosurgical generator.

Another method of monopolar electrosurgery via argon plasma technology was described by <CIT> and <CIT>. This method, referred to as argon plasma coagulation (APC) or argon beam coagulation is a non-contact monopolar thermoablative method of electrocoagulation that has been widely used in surgery for the last twenty years. In general, APC involves supplying an ionizable gas such as argon past the active electrode to target tissue and conducting electrical energy to the target tissue in ionized pathways as non-arcing diffuse current. In <CIT> described electrosurgical systems and methods using argon plasma during cutting modes of operation.

It refers to an attachment for an electrosurgical system. The attachment comprises an extendable probe assembly that may be connected to an electrosurgical handpiece, housing, connector or other apparatus. The extendable probe assembly has a shaft member, a tube, an electrode, a spacer and a collet. The shaft member and tube each may be in form of a plurality of structures assembled together, each may be of a single unitary design, or both together may be of a single unitary design. The shaft member has an interior channel, a distal end and a proximal end comprised of a neck portion at the distal end of the shaft member, a grip portion and an elongated portion extending toward the proximal end of the shaft member. The elongated portion has a shaft stop member and an alignment feature. The tube has an interior channel and has a proximal end secured within the shaft and a distal end extending from the distal end of the shaft, an electrode within the interior channel of the tube, and spacer and a collet. The spacer is movably connected to the shaft member and is comprises of a body having an interior channel for slidably receiving the elongated portion of the shaft member, the interior channel having an interior alignment feature for aligning the interior channel of the spacer with the alignment feature of the elongated portion of the shaft, a spacer stop member and an outer alignment feature. The collet connects the probe assembly to an electrosurgical handpiece, connector or other apparatus. The collet has an interior ridge for engaging the spacer stop member and having interior threads for engaging with threads on the electrosurgical handpiece. The elongated portion of the shaft is movable within the spacer between a first position in which a portion of a distal end of the electrode extends out of the tube and a second portion in which the distal end of the electrode does not extend out of the tube. The probe assembly may further comprise a heat resistant tube abutting a distal end of the tube surrounding the electrode. Further, the probe assembly may have a stiffening member over the abutment between the heat resistant tube and the distal end of the elongated tube. The shaft stop member comprises a plurality of tines extending from a proximal end of the elongated portion of the shaft. The alignment feature of the shaft comprises a flat surface on the elongated portion of the shaft and the interior alignment feature of the spacer comprised a flat surface on the interior of the spacer. The outer alignment feature of the spacer may comprise a pair of ridges of different widths spaced on the exterior circumference of the spacer.

The tube surrounding the electrode may be an assembly comprising insulating tubing, a heat-resistant tip adjacent to a distal end of the insulating tubing, a stiffening element over a joint between the insulating tubing and the heat-resistant tip and shrink wrap over a portion of the insulating tubing, the heat-resistant tip and the stiffening element. In an alternate embodiment, the tube.

The grip may comprise a collar having a plurality of depressions.

Still other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent from the following detailed description, simply by illustrating a preferable embodiments and implementations. The present invention is also capable of other and different embodiments and its several details can be modified in various obvious respects within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions are to be regarded as illustrative in nature, and not as restrictive. Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

For a more complete understanding of the present invention and the advantages thereof, reference is now made to the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which:.

A multi-functional electrosurgical plasma accessory in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference the drawings. In <FIG> the electrosurgical attachment <NUM> has a handpiece <NUM>, a gas supply tube <NUM> extending from the proximal end of the handpiece <NUM>, a connector <NUM> for connecting the gas supply tube <NUM> to a source of gas (not shown), an electrical line <NUM> extending from the proximal end of the handpiece <NUM>, a connector <NUM> for connecting the electrical line to an electrosurgical generators and an extendable probe <NUM> connected to the distal end of the handpiece <NUM>.

In accordance with a preferred embodiment, the extendable probe <NUM>, shown in <FIG>, has a tip assembly connected to a shaft <NUM>, a spacer <NUM> and a collet <NUM>. The tip assembly has an electrode <NUM> extending through a tube <NUM> (see <FIG>), a heat resistant tip <NUM>, a layer <NUM>, such as an adhesion tube or insulating layer, over the heat-resistant tip <NUM> and the tube <NUM>, a stiffening element <NUM> over the joint between the heat-resistant tip <NUM> and tube <NUM>, and a shrink tube <NUM> over the rest of the tip assembly. The stiffening element <NUM> strengthens the joint between the heat-resistant tip <NUM> and tube <NUM> to prevent the tip assembly from bending at that joint.

The shaft <NUM>, shown in <FIG>, has a collar or grip member <NUM> with a plurality of depressions or grooves <NUM> for gripping the shaft, a cylindrical neck <NUM>, and an elongated portion <NUM> having a plurality of engagement tines <NUM>. The elongated portion is predominantly cylindrical but has opposing flat sides <NUM> used for alignment with the spacer <NUM>.

The spacer <NUM>, shown in <FIG>, has a first cylindrical portion <NUM>, an annular ridge <NUM> and a second cylindrical portion <NUM> having a pair of different-sized ridges <NUM>, <NUM>. The interior of the spacer <NUM> has a channel for receiving the elongated portion <NUM> of the shaft <NUM>. At the end of the second cylindrical portion <NUM>, the interior of the spacer <NUM> has a shoulder <NUM> for receiving metal contact <NUM>. The channel has two flat sides <NUM> for aligning with the flat sides <NUM> in the elongated portion <NUM> of the shaft <NUM>. While a shape of two rounded sides and two flat sides is shown here for alignment of the shaft <NUM> with the spacer <NUM>, other alignments designs are well-known and may be used with the invention.

The collet <NUM>, show in in <FIG>, has a body <NUM> having a plurality of depressions or dimples <NUM> on its exterior for gripping the collet. The interior of the collet <NUM> has threads <NUM> for engaging with threads on the handpiece <NUM>.

The handpiece <NUM> has a housing having an upper portion shown in <FIG> and a lower portion shown in <FIG>. The upper portion has a body <NUM> having a plurality of openings <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> therein for receiving control buttons. The body <NUM> may have a recessed area <NUM> for receiving, for example, a product label. The upper portion has a ridge structure <NUM> along its sides and tabs <NUM> and <NUM> for mating with the bottom portion. The upper portion has a threaded neck <NUM> for mating with the threads on the collet <NUM>. The interior of the threaded neck <NUM> has a pair of different grooves <NUM>, <NUM> for engaging with the ridges <NUM>, <NUM> on the spacer <NUM>. On the interior of the upper portion adjacent each hole <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> there is a part of support elements <NUM>, <NUM> and 747for supporting a PCB board and buttons for controlling the gas flow and the flow of electricity. The interior of the upper portion additionally has a support <NUM> for supporting the PCB board. The bottom or lower portion <NUM> of the handpiece <NUM> has a body <NUM> a pair of grip portions <NUM>, grooves <NUM> for engaging with tabs <NUM> in the upper portion, and a ridge structure <NUM> for engaging with the ridge structure <NUM> in the upper portion of the handpiece.

The PCB board/button assembly is shown in <FIG>. The PCB board <NUM> is supported in the hand piece by the support elements <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> and <NUM> in the handpiece <NUM>. Each button has an upper portion <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> that extends through a corresponding hole <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM> in the upper body portion <NUM>, a flat retention element <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>, and a biasing element <NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>.

In <FIG> a connector of a handpiece of an extendable probe assembly of a multi-functional electrosurgical plasma accessory is shown. The connector portion has external threads for mating with a collet on a probe assembly. The neck of the connector portion of the handpiece has an alignment slot with sides angling in from the open end of the slot. The sides of the slot are substantial straight and parallel to the length of the slot near the closed end of the slot. The angled sides serve to rotationally self-align a guide member on a spacer of the probe assembly to ensure that the probe assembly is properly aligned with the handpiece. The connector in the handpiece has an interior channel with a plurality of beveled shoulders to axially align the spacer with the handpiece. The spacer has a first end for inserting into the connector portion of the handpiece. The first end is beveled to provide initial axial self-alignment. The spacer has a beveled shoulder partially along its length to provide further axial self-alignment of the spacer with the connector portion of the handpiece. The spacer further has a stop member, which will be adjacent to the distal end of the connector portion of the handpiece when the probe assembly is fully inserted into the handpiece. The spacer still further has a ridge parallel with its axis for radial alignment of the spacer with the handpiece. The distal end of the ridge is angled to provide tactile radial self-alignment of the probe assembly with the handpiece.

A multi-functional electrosurgical plasma accessory in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the present invention is described with reference to <FIG>. In <FIG> the electrosurgical attachment <NUM> has a handpiece <NUM>, a gas supply tube <NUM> extending from the proximal end of the handpiece <NUM>, a connector <NUM> for connecting the gas supply tube <NUM> to a source of gas (not shown), an electrical line <NUM> extending from the proximal end of the handpiece <NUM>, a connector <NUM> for connecting the electrical line to an electrosurgical generators and an extendable probe <NUM> connected to the distal end of the handpiece <NUM>.

The probe assembly has a collet <NUM>, a spacer <NUM>, a shaft member <NUM>, a heat-resistant tip formed, for example, from ceramic material, an electrode <NUM> and a metal contact <NUM>. The electrode <NUM> has a plastic crimp <NUM> near its distal end to hold the electrode in the center of the channel in the shaft <NUM>. The shaft member <NUM>, shown in <FIG> has a unitary design, for example, made of plastic, having a collar or grip member <NUM> with a plurality of depressions or grooves <NUM> for gripping the shaft, a neck <NUM>, and an elongated portion <NUM> having a plurality of engagement tines <NUM>. The elongated portion is predominantly cylindrical but has opposing flat sides <NUM> used for alignment with the spacer <NUM>. The neck <NUM> has a channel within it for receiving the electrode <NUM>.

The second embodiment has an alternative system and method for connecting a probe assembly <NUM> to a handpiece <NUM> of a multi-functional electrosurgical plasma accessory. The handpiece has an upper portion show in in <FIG>. The lower portion is show in in <FIG>. The distal end of the handpiece <NUM> has a connector portion <NUM> having external threads for mating with a collet <NUM> on a probe assembly <NUM>. The neck of the connector portion of the handpiece has an alignment slot <NUM> with side portions <NUM> angling in from the open end of the slot <NUM>. The sides of the slot are substantially straight and parallel to the length of the slot near the closed end of the slot. The angled sides serve to rotationally self-align a guide member on a spacer of the probe assembly to ensure that the probe assembly is properly aligned with the handpiece. The connector in the handpiece has an interior channel with a plurality of beveled shoulders to axially align the spacer <NUM> with the handpiece <NUM>. The spacer <NUM> has a first end for inserting into the connector portion of the handpiece. The first end has a beveled portion <NUM> to provide initial axial self-alignment. The spacer has a beveled shoulder <NUM> partially along its body <NUM> to provide further axial self- alignment of the spacer with the connector portion of the handpiece. The spacer further has a stop member <NUM>, which will be adjacent the distal end of the connector portion of the handpiece when the probe assembly is fully inserted into the handpiece. The spacer still further has a ridge <NUM> parallel with its axis for radial alignment of the spacer with the handpiece. The distal end of the ridge <NUM> is angled to provide tactile radial self- alignment of the probe assembly with the handpiece.

The bottom or lower portion <NUM> of the handpiece <NUM> has a body <NUM>, a butterfly-shaped grip <NUM>, a groove for engaging with tabs <NUM> in the upper portion, and a ridge structure <NUM> for engaging with the ridge structure <NUM> in the upper portion of the handpiece.

Claim 1:
An attachment for an electrosurgical system comprising:
an extendable probe assembly comprising:
a shaft member (<NUM>) having and interior channel, a distal end and a proximal end, comprising:
a neck portion at said distal end of said shaft member;
a grip portion; and
an elongated portion extending toward said proximal end of said shaft member (<NUM>), wherein said elongated portion has a shaft stop member and an alignment feature, wherein said shaft stop member comprises a plurality of tines extending from a proximal end of said elongated portion of said shaft;
a tube (<NUM>) having an interior channel, said tube (<NUM>) having a proximal end secured within said shaft (<NUM>) and a distal end extending from said distal end of said shaft (<NUM>);
an electrode (<NUM>) within and extending through said interior channel of said tube (<NUM>);
a spacer (<NUM>) movably connected to said shaft member (<NUM>) comprising:
a body having an interior channel for slidably receiving said elongated portion of said shaft member (<NUM>), said interior channel having an interior alignment feature for aligning said interior channel of said spacer (<NUM>) with said alignment feature of said elongated portion of said shaft (<NUM>);
a spacer stop member;
an outer alignment feature;
a shoulder (<NUM>) in said interior channel for receiving a metal contact; and
a metal contact (<NUM>) on said shoulder in said spacer for connecting to said electrode; and
a collet for connecting said probe assembly to an electrosurgical handpiece, said collet having an interior ridge for engaging said spacer stop member and having interior threads for engaging with threads on said electrosurgical handpiece;
wherein said elongated portion of said shaft (<NUM>) is movable within said spacer (<NUM>) between a first position in which a portion of a distal end of said electrode (<NUM>) extends out of said tube (<NUM>) and a second position in which said tube (<NUM>) covers the distal end of said electrode and does not extend out of said tube (<NUM>).