Patent ID: 8109956

Claim:
A surgical method for treating a body tissue, the method comprising: obtaining access to a treatment site including the body tissue and delivering a cutting mechanism of a surgical instrument in proximity to a target portion of the body tissue, the cutting mechanism including a first member defining a lumen and a distal cutting tip, the distal cutting tip defining a first aperture; supporting the first member via a handpiece and interposing a coupler between the first member and the handpiece while containing a proximal portion of the first member substantially entirely within an interior of the handpiece; directly exposing an exterior surface of the coupler to the ambient environment; providing a fluid pathway that extends through the lumen of the first member from the distal cutting tip to a proximal end of the first member adjacent a proximal end of the handpiece at which the lumen of the first member is connected to a source of negative pressure, wherein the proximal portion of the fluid pathway is contained substantially entirely within the interior of the handpiece via the lumen of the first member; providing the first member with a proximal vacuum window intermediate to the distal cutting tip and the proximal end, with the proximal vacuum window defining a second aperture located within an interior of the coupler and in communication with the lumen, and further defining the fluid pathway from the proximal vacuum window of the first member, through an interior of the coupler, and to a third aperture exteriorly exposed on the coupler and in direct communication with the ambient environment; placing the distal cutting tip into contact with the target portion; and selectively aspirating the treatment site by selectively manipulating a position of a finger over the third aperture of the coupler to manually effectuate an altering of a level of vacuum applied by the source of negative pressure at the distal cutting tip.