PATENT CLAIM ANALYSIS

Application Number: 15887503
Application Type: Utility
Filing Date: 2018-02
Publication Date: 2019-01
Patent Classification: ["600", "249000"]

Abstract:
Unintended current flow or plasma discharge has been observed in known illuminated electrosurgical devices having a metallic tubular heat sink surrounding a conductive electrode and an illumination element, and having a distal outer edge that abuts against the light emitting element. An insulating, shielding or other isolating element that prevents or discourages unintended plasma formation between the distal outer edge and nearby patient tissue can reduce the potential for tissue damage to a patient or injury to a surgeon.

Claim (Index 58):
An electrosurgical device comprising an electrical device designed for handheld use by a surgeon to dispense radiofrequency energy from the electromagnetic spectrum having a frequency between about 3 kilohertz (3 kHz) and about 300 gigahertz (300 GHz) through the tip of an electrode into target surgical tissue, in order to cut, coagulate or cauterize such surgical tissue during a surgical procedure, the electrosurgical device comprising:\n a) a handle that can be held by the surgeon; b) an electrically conductive electrode supported by the handle and having a tip for cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure, the electrically conductive electrode being a material that readily permits the flow of electrical current through such conductive electrode material; c) an illumination element having:\n a light source including a light emitting diode, \n a parabolic light collector and optical waveguide that capture light emitted from the light emitting diode and conduct such light towards the electrically conductive electrode tip, and \n a light emitting element including a front face having lenslets that illuminate the electrode tip and direct such light onto such target surgical tissue to be cut, coagulated or cauterized during such surgical procedure; \n d) a metallic tubular heat sink that can be slidably extended from the handle, the heat sink:\n surrounding at least part of the conductive electrode and at least part of the illumination element, \n having a length, \n having a distal outer edge that abuts the light emitting element, and \n having a breakdown voltage between the distal outer edge and nearby patient tissue when the device is used to dispense radiofrequency energy through the electrode tip; \n e) a collet or other locking mechanism on the handle that permits the surgeon to vary the length of the metallic tubular heat sink and electrosurgical device as may be needed for particular surgical procedures; f) a tubular plastic insulating sleeve placed over at least a portion of the illumination element and over the distal outer edge of the metallic tubular heat sink, the plastic insulating sleeve being a hardened layer of organic material that extends along at least the distal 20 mm of the metallic tubular heat sink length and increases the heat sink breakdown voltage while permitting little, if any, flow of electrical current through such hardened layer of organic material while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; g) a tubular plastic insulating collar placed over at least a portion of the illumination element and over the distal outer edge of the metallic tubular heat sink, the plastic insulating collar having a thickness of at least 0.1 mm, a width of at least 2 mm and increasing the heat sink breakdown voltage while permitting little, if any, flow of electrical current through such plastic insulating collar while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; wherein:\n the electrically conductive electrode includes a conductive leg portion that readily permits the flow of electrical current through such conductive leg portion while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; \n the conductive leg portion resides in a slot in the optical waveguide; \n the electrically conductive electrode is connected to a conductive cable that readily permits the flow of electrical current through such conductive cable while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; \n the conductive cable passes through the handle and supplies radiofrequency energy to the electrically conductive electrode while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; \n some or all of the conductive leg portion of the electrically conductive electrode is coated with a layer of an insulating material in the form of plastic heat-shrink tubing that increases the heat sink breakdown voltage while permitting little, if any, flow of electrical current through such layer of insulating material in the form of plastic heat-shrink tubing while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure; and \n a layer of plastic cladding surrounds the optical waveguide, the layer of plastic cladding having a thickness of at least 0.1 mm and increasing the heat sink breakdown voltage while permitting little, if any, flow of electrical current through such layer of plastic cladding while cutting, coagulating or cauterizing such surgical tissue during such surgical procedure.

Metadata:
- Claim Count in Document: 28.0
- Percentile: 88.0
- Lexical Diversity: 1.40678
- Patent Class: 600.0
- Transitional Phrase Type: open
- Component Type: 1
- Foreign Priority: False
- Related Applications: ['10228298', '11931312', '10813736', '11237429', '14962942']

Analysis Scores:
- 35 USC 101 Eligibility (BERT): 0.6112528525549548
- 35 USC 102 Novelty (BERT): 0.4531604723434349
- Combined Prediction Score: 0.5954436145338028
- Mean Citation Score: 148.66004200000003
- Max Citation Score: 157.70141999999996
- Similarity Product: 117.35043528687712

Labels:
- Claim Label 101: 1
- Claim Label 102: 1
- Claim Label 103: 1
- Claim Label 112: 1
- Combined Label: 1
- Label 101 Adjusted: 1

Dataset: test