Patent ID: 8777945

Claim:
A system for monitoring and/or controlling tissue modification during an electrosurgical procedure comprising: an electrosurgical apparatus adapted to connect to an electrosurgical generator, the electrosurgical apparatus including a pair of jaw members configured to grasp tissue therebetween and allow light transmission therethrough, at least one of the jaw members having an optical transmission port and an optical collection port disposed on a tissue contacting surface thereof; an optical system including: at least one optical source configured to generate light; at least one optical detector configured to analyze a first portion of the light transmitted through the tissue and configured to analyze a second portion of the light reflected from the tissue; and a processor operatively coupled to the optical system and to the electrosurgical generator, the processor configured to control the delivery of electrosurgical energy from the electrosurgical generator to tissue based on information provided by the optical system, wherein the processor is programmed to sample a spectral content of the tissue held between the jaw members to obtain optical data relating to the tissue to derive an electrosurgical energy delivery strategy and to set an initial power level intensity of electrosurgical energy based on the optical data relating to the tissue, wherein the at least one optical source operably couples to the optical transmission port and the at least one optical detector operably couples to the optical collection port.