Patent ID: 8343178

Claim:
A surgical method comprising: providing a cutting blade having a thickness along a cutting edge of between about 0.0005 inch and about 0.020 inch; moving said blade in contact with relatively hard tissue located adjacent to relatively soft tissue at a surgical site in a patient, so that said cutting edge cuts through said hard tissue and leaves said soft tissue substantially intact and undamaged; and ultrasonically vibrating said blade during the moving of said blade, wherein the vibrating of said blade is initiated prior to a contacting of said surgical site with said blade and is maintained during an initial contact of said blade with the tissues at said surgical site and during the moving of said blade through said hard tissue, wherein said blade is moved in a continuous and uninterrupted stroke along an interface between said hard tissue and said soft tissue at said surgical site with said blade extending generally parallel to said interface, the ultrasonic vibrating of said blade being performed continuously and uninterruptedly during said stroke.