Patent ID: 7112200

Claim:
An electro-cauterizing cannula assembly for use with a powered liposuction device having a hand-holdable housing provided with a reciprocation means reciprocatable within said hand-holdable housing and power supply terminals for supplying a radio-frequency (RF) power signal to said electro-cauterizing cannula assembly during liposuction operations, said electro-cauterizing cannula assembly being operably connectable to said hand-holdable housing and comprising: a hollow inner canula having a distal end and a proximal end and an inner suction aperture about said inner cannula distal end, said inner cannula proximal end further including an outlet port and a continuous passageway which communicates said inner suction aperture with said outlet port; a hollow outer cannula having a distal end and a proximal end and an outer suction aperture about said outer cannula distal end, said hollow inner cannula being disposed within at least a portion of said hollow outer cannula while permitting aspiration through said outer and inner suction apertures, along said continuous passageway and out of said outlet port; said hollow inner cannula being operably associatable with said reciprocation means, and said hollow outer cannula being maintainable stationary with respect to said hand-holdable housing, so as to effectuate relative sliding movement between said hollow inner and outer cannulas when said reciprocation means reciprocates, so that the location of aspiration through said outer and inner suction apertures is periodically displaced; and electro-cauterizing means associated with said hollow inner and outer cannulas, for conducting radio-frequency power signals along said hollow inner and outer cannulas and effecting coagulation of protein molecules within the tissue being aspirated through said outer and inner suction apertures.