Patent ID: 8372068

Claim:
Apparatus for delivering a radiofrequency current to tissue, said apparatus comprising: a probe body having a support end, a working end, and a thin elastic dielectric wall surrounding an interior chamber disposed about the working end, said thin elastic dielectric wall preventing formation of a direct electrically conductive path from the plasma to the tissue surface; a gas inlet connected to deliver an electrically non-conductive gas to the interior chamber; a first electrode structure having a surface exposed to the interior chamber and/or the gas inlet; a second electrode structure on an exterior surface of the probe body, said second electrode structure having a surface adapted to contact tissue; a radiofrequency power supply connected to apply a radiofrequency voltage across the first and second electrode structures, wherein the voltage is sufficient to initiate a plasma in the electrically non-conductive gas within the chamber and to capacitively couple current in the plasma across the dielectric wall into tissue.