Patent ID: 7938822

Claim:
A cryosurgical system, comprising: a cryosurgical instrument including a tip that is cooled by a cryogen in a fluid state and warmed by a same type of cryogen in a heated gaseous state; a fluid cryogen source that supplies a liquid cryogen to the cryosurgical instrument; a gaseous cryogen source that supplies a gaseous cryogen to the cryosurgical instrument; and a heating element that selectively heats the gaseous cryogen, wherein the gaseous cryogen and the fluid cryogen are not supplied to the cryosurgical instrument simultaneously but rather are supplied sequentially, such that wherein said fluid cryogen source is in fluid communication with the cryosurgical instrument, said gaseous cryogen source is not in fluid communication with the cryosurgical instrument; and such that wherein said gaseous cryogen source is in fluid communication with the cryosurgical instrument, said fluid cryogen source is not in fluid communication with the cryosurgical instrument, and wherein the gaseous cryogen source and the liquid cryogen source supply a same type of cryogen.