Patent ID: 8555543

Claim:
An apparatus for killing a soft tissue organism in a salt water environment, the apparatus comprising: an elongate tubular housing for reaching from outside a salt water environment to at least a portion of a soft tissue organism disposed within the salt water environment, wherein the elongate tubular housing includes a proximal end and a distal end; a probe for targeting the soft tissue organism, the probe protruding from the distal end of the housing, wherein the probe is exposed to the salt water environment when the distal end is submerged therein; and a conductive element comprising an elongate rod having a lengthwise extent and two opposed ends rigidly supported by and surrounded by the housing between the distal end and the proximal end, such that an intermediate portion of the conductive element being exposed to the salt water environment when the housing distal end is submerged therein, the probe and the conductive element being operatively coupled to a source of electric current, such that the salt water environment provides a circuit coupling between the probe and the conductive element for killing the soft tissue organism.