Patent ID: 7578815

Claim:
A system for performing thermal cautery system on body tissue, said system comprising: a thermal cautery device, said thermal cautery device comprising a resistive heating element; a power supply; and a control system comprising a means for operably connecting the power supply to the resistive heating element to provide power to the resistive heating element; and a means for identifying the thermal cautery device connected to the power supply, said means comprising: an identification resistor electrically connected to the thermal cautery device, said identification resistor having a pre-determined resistance value; and a reference resistor placed in series with the identification resistor when the thermal cautery device is electrically connected to the power supply, said reference resistor also electrically connected to ground such that an identifying voltage develops across the reference resistor when power is applied to the reference resistor and the identification resistor; and a comparison resistor electrically connected to the power supply and to ground, wherein a reference voltage develops across the comparison resistor when power is applied to the comparison resistor; and a comparator, wherein a first terminal of the comparator is electrically connected to the identifying voltage and a second terminal of the comparator is electrically connected to the reference voltage; wherein the comparator produces an output signal based on a comparison of the identifying voltage with the reference voltage, said output signal indicating that a particular thermal cautery device is operably connected to the power supply.