Patent ID: 8728076

Claim:
A surgical apparatus for coagulating and cutting tissue, said apparatus comprising: a handle assembly including a housing and at least one electrical contact; a tool cartridge at least partially receivable in said housing of said handle assembly and removable from said handle assembly; said tool cartridge including a tool for use in cutting tissue, the tool positioned at a distal end of the tool cartridge; a transmission operatively connected to said tool and longitudinally movable between positions; a first sheath positioned at a proximal end of the tool cartridge; at least one conductive ring encircling an outer surface of the first sheath; a second sheath enclosing at least part of said transmission and defining at least one slot, and a grip disposed outside of said second sheath and operatively connected to said transmission through said at least one slot; and said handle assembly including a tool actuation lever operatively engagable to said grip of said tool cartridge such that said grip and said transmission move to actuate said tool in relation to actuation of said tool actuation lever, wherein said at least one electrical contact engages said at least one conductive ring when the proximal end of said tool cartridge is received within said housing.