Electrosurgery is a well-known surgical approach employed to reduce tissue damage and blood loss during operating room and outpatient procedures. In electrosurgery, tissue of a patient adjacent to an electrode conductor is excited by a high frequency electric current passing from the electrode conductor to the tissue of the patient. Depending upon the characteristics of the electrical current and method employed by a user, different electrosurgical operations may be performed with the electrosurgical instrument. For instance, an electrosurgical instrument may be used to cut, coagulate (coag), desiccate, or fulgurate tissue.
As with many surgical instruments, electrosurgical instruments may require the user to accurately and precisely guide the electrosurgical instrument when performing an electrosurgical operation. In this regard, consistent pressure and stability are necessary to realize accuracy when using the electrosurgical instrument. As such, an electrosurgical instrument may be of a size such that the electrosurgical instrument may be readily gripped by the user to accurately and precisely maneuver the electrosurgical instrument. For example, many electrosurgical instruments are similar in size and shape to a writing instrument.
The high frequency electrical current used to perform various electrosurgical operations may be generated by electrosurgical equipment (e.g., an electrosurgical generator). In turn, a signal cable may extend between the electrosurgical instrument and the electrosurgical equipment to facilitate electrical communication therebetween.
In this regard, when electrosurgical instruments rest on a surface (e.g., an operating room table, the patient, etc.) the instruments may be free to roll about a longitudinal axis of the electrosurgical instrument, which may result in inadvertent activation of the electrosurgical instrument. This increases the potential for injury to the user and/or patient and may result in damage to the electrosurgical instrument.
The signal cable extending from the electrosurgical instrument to the electrosurgical equipment may have a certain amount of elastic memory. This may cause the electrosurgical instrument to roll when disposed on a support surface such that a side load on one or more of the actuators may activate the electrosurgical instrument. Furthermore, if an electrosurgical instrument is to roll off a support surface and fall, the electrosurgical instrument may be damaged as a result of the fall.
Electrosurgical instruments may also have independent actuators to activate one or more operational states. These independent actuators may require a user to reposition one or more fingers with respect to the electrosurgical instrument to control the different actuators. This may result in inconsistent pressure, create movement, and reduce the stability of the electrosurgical instrument, thus leading to reduced accuracy.
Additional devices maybe employed during an electrosurgical operation. For instance, operating room lighting may allow a user to have an improved view of the surgical field. In this regard, lighting arrays may be provided in operating rooms or outpatient clinics to assist in illuminating the surgical field. Additionally or alternatively, bulky fiber-optic cable can also be used to illuminate the surgical field by being placed in or near the surgical field. Additional light emitters, such as headlamps and the like, worn by medical personnel may also be employed. However, in all these instances the light emitter is generally provided some distance away from the electrosurgical instrument, and/or away from the surgical field. As such, the surgical instrument and light emitters are separated and shadows may be cast on the surgical field by the user, the electrosurgical instrument, or other obstructions (e.g., table drapes, other devices utilized during surgery, user's hand, etc.). In short, known light emitters may fail to provide a sufficient amount of unobstructed light at the surgical field of interest.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds