Patent ID: 7214224

Claim:
An electrosurgical system including a generator for generating radio frequency (RF) power, and an electrosurgical instrument including at least two electrodes, and an identification element carried by the instrument and being representative of at least the number of electrodes present on the instrument, the generator comprising: (i) an RF output stage having at least a pair of RF output lines, (ii) a power supply coupled to the output stage for supplying power to the output stage, (iii) a controller capable of varying an RF signal supplied to the RF output lines, so as to be capable of supplying either a cutting RF waveform or a coagulating RF waveform, and (iv) a switching circuit having at least three output connections, at least two being in electrical connection with respective ones of the at least two electrodes, and (v) a sensing circuit adapted to sense the identification element carried by the instrument, the switching circuit being operated to connect the RF output lines to two or more of the at least three output connections, depending on the particular identification element carried by the instrument, wherein the controller is arranged such that, when the identification element indicates that the electrosurgical instrument includes at least three electrodes, the switching circuit is operated to supply the cutting RF waveform between a first pair of the electrosurgical instrument's electrodes and the coagulating RF waveform between a second pair of the electrosurgical instrument's electrodes, but where the identification element indicates that the electrosurgical instrument includes only two electrodes, the switching circuit is operated to supply both the cutting RF waveform and the coagulating RF waveform to the same pair of electrodes.