Patent ID: 8062246

Claim:
A device for use in an environment having the form of gas, the device comprising: a surgical instrument having a distal end adapted to perform a surgical procedure on a patient and a proximal end adapted to be controllable by an operator, the instrument comprising a pressure lumen having sufficient burst strength to conduct a high pressure liquid towards the distal end of the instrument, the pressure lumen including at least one nozzle having a jet opening configured to form a liquid jet, as a liquid at high pressure flows therethrough, the jet opening configured to cause the liquid jet to include a diverging region of liquid droplets moving through the gas-based environment, with the diverging region having an apex located at the jet opening, such that in the gas-based environment essentially all of the moving liquid droplets in the diverging region are directed into a jet-receiving opening when the instrument is in operation; and an evacuation lumen including the jet-receiving opening locatable opposite the jet opening, at a predetermined distance therefrom, to receive a liquid jet when the instrument is in operation.