Patent ID: 7601150

Claim:
A method of operating an apparatus for argon-plasma coagulation (APC), wherein the apparatus comprises at least a high-frequency source, a source of noble gas, and an APC instrument connected to the high-frequency source and to the source of the noble gas, and wherein the method comprises the following steps: activating the apparatus for APC; after activation of the apparatus for APC, causing a specified amount of noble gas to flow out of the APC instrument, thereby reducing the concentration of combustible substances near a biological tissue to be treated and thus avoiding the ignition of the combustible substances; and after causing the specified amount of the noble gas to flow out of the APC instrument, allowing a high-frequency voltage for ionizing the noble gas to be switched on, wherein the high-frequency voltage cannot be turned on as long as the specified amount of the noble gas has not flowed out of the APC instrument.