Patent ID: 8852186

Claim:
A system for monitoring tissue state during a tissue sealing procedure, the system comprising: a forceps including opposing jaw members movable from a first position in spaced relation relative to one another to at least one subsequent position wherein the jaw members cooperate to grasp tissue therebetween; and a generator coupled to at least one of the jaw members, the generator including: an output stage configured to generate therapeutic energy and non-therapeutic microwave monitoring signals; a microwave detector configured to measure at least one of absorbed or reflected non-therapeutic microwave monitoring signals, the microwave detector being tunable to a selected frequency band in a frequency range of the non-therapeutic microwave monitoring signals; and a controller operatively coupled to the microwave detector, the controller configured to determine state of the tissue based on at least one of the absorbed or reflected non-therapeutic microwave monitoring signals and to control the delivery of therapeutic energy from the generator to tissue based the state of the tissue.