Patent ID: 8167875

Claim:
A method for controlling application of energy to tissue as a function of at least one detected tissue property, comprising the steps of: applying energy to tissue; detecting at least one tissue property, the detecting step including: sensing an electrical conductance of the tissue; and controlling the application of energy to the tissue in accordance with a detected slope of a control curve, the control curve representative of the sensed electrical conductance of the tissue as a function of tissue temperature, the controlling step including: initially adjusting the energy applied to tissue and determining a direction of change of the detected slope of the control curve; subsequently adjusting the energy applied to tissue in the same direction as the initially adjusting step if the detected slope of the control curve is changing in a first direction and in the opposite direction to the initially adjusting step if the detected slope of the control curve is changing in a second direction; and further adjusting the energy applied to the tissue in the same direction as the initially adjusting step if the detected slope of the control curve is changing in the second direction and in the opposite direction to the initially adjusting step if the detected slope of the control curve is changing in the first direction.