Patent ID: 8394088

Claim:
An electrosurgical instrument for selectively ablating or coagulating tissue of a patient at a surgical site, the electrosurgical instrument being switchable between an ablation mode and a coagulation mode, the electrosurgical instrument comprising: an elongate probe having a proximal end and a distal end; a first electrode positioned on a first surface at the distal end of the elongate probe, the first electrode having a first surface area so as to generate a first current density sufficient to ablate tissue when a first amount of power is delivered to the first electrode during operation of the electrosurgical instrument in an ablation mode; a coagulation electrode positioned at a second opposing surface of the distal end of the elongate probe and so as to be electrically isolated from the first electrode, the coagulation electrode having a second surface area greater than the first surface area so as to generate a second current density that is sufficient to coagulate tissue when a second amount of power that is greater than the first amount of power is delivered to the coagulation electrode during operation in a coagulation mode; and a user operable input component or switch electrically coupled to the first electrode and to the coagulation electrode for selectively delivering power from a power generator to one or both of the first electrode or the coagulation electrode, the user operable input component or switch providing user selectable switching between the ablation mode and the coagulation mode, wherein when the electrosurgical instrument operates in the ablation mode, the user operable input component or switch selectively causes the first amount of power to be delivered only to the first electrode and not to the coagulation electrode so as to generate the first current density at the first electrode sufficient to ablate tissue, and when the electrosurgical instrument operates in the coagulation mode, the user operable input component or switch selectively causes the second amount of power to be delivered to at least the coagulation electrode so as to generate the second current density at the coagulation electrode and optionally also at the first electrode sufficient to coagulate tissue.