Patent ID: 8100898

Claim:
A system for determining probability of tissue damage, the system comprising: an electrosurgical generator adapted to generate an electrosurgical current; a plurality of return electrodes adhered to a patient and adapted to couple to the electrosurgical generator; a plurality of current monitor monitors, each current monitor coupled to a corresponding return electrode of the plurality of return electrodes, each current monitor configured to measure the electrosurgical current passing through the corresponding return electrode to obtain a return electrode current value; a processor coupled to the plurality of current monitors, the processor configured to calculate a cooling factor and a heating factor with respect to each return electrode of the plurality of return electrodes, the processor further configured to determine probability of tissue damage for each return electrode of the plurality of the return electrodes as a function of at least one of the cooling factor and the heating factor, the processor further configured to compare the return electrode current values with each other to determine a highest return electrode current value; and a comparator coupled to the processor, the comparator configured to compare the highest return electrode current value with a current threshold value.