Patent ID: 7195627

Claim:
An electrosurgical generator for supplying radio frequency (RF) power to an electrosurgical instrument for cutting or vaporising tissue, wherein the generator comprises: an RF output stage having at least one RF power device, at least one pair of output lines for delivering RF power to the instrument, and a series-resonant output network coupled between the RF power device and the said pair of output lines; a power supply stage coupled to the RF output stage to supply power thereto and having a sensing element for sensing energy levels in the power supply stage; and a control circuit coupled to the sensing element for interrupting the delivery of RF power by the RF output stage, the control circuit being configured to interrupt the power delivery whilst the energy level in the power supply stage exceeds an interruption energy threshold and to cause continuous wave operation of the RF output stage when the energy level is below the threshold, both the interrupted delivery of RF power and the continuous wave operation being capable of cutting or vaporizing tissue.