A surgical instrument system comprising a handle, a shaft, and a disposable power module is disclosed. The handle comprises a motor, a control switch, and a motor-control processor which is in communication with the control switch. In various instances, the disposable power module comprises a disposable battery and a display unit configured to indicate at least one function of the surgical instrument system.

An electrosurgical electrode for coagulating and cutting tissue includes a main body fabricated from a conductive material, and a conductive blade extending inwardly from an inner surface of the main body. The blade has an edge configured to concentrate RF for cutting tissue.

Flexible circuit strips of a catheter balloon may comprise a substrate and a contact electrode disposed on the substrate. A cover may be disposed over a peripheral portion of the contact electrode and an adjacent portion of the substrate The cover is intended to increase robustness of the contact electrode in response to fatigue that might arise from repeated expansion and contraction of the catheter balloon.

A catheter balloon comprises an ellipsoidal membrane. A plurality of flexible circuit strips, each of which comprises a substrate and a contact electrode, are disposed about the membrane. A coating is disposed atop at least the outer surface of the membrane and may also be disposed atop a portion of each of the substrates. The coating may comprise a dielectric material, such as parylene. The coating may increase the smoothness of the balloon. When subject to internal pressures that expand the balloon, the coating may also increase the resilience of the balloon relative to a balloon that lacks the coating as determined by changes in the balloon's diameter before and after expansion.

The present disclosure relates to electrosurgical instruments for use in sealing various tissues. The instrument includes a housing having a shaft attached thereto and an end effector assembly attached to a distal end of the shaft, wherein the end effector assembly includes first and second jaw members attached thereto. The jaw members are movable relative to one another from a first position for approximating tissue to at least one additional position for grasping tissue therebetween. The jaw members have an elastomeric material disposed on an inner facing tissue contacting surface thereof with the elastomeric materials including an electrode disposed therein. The electrodes are offset a distance X relative to one another such that when the jaw members are closed about the tissue and when the electrodes are activated, electrosurgical energy flows through the tissue in a generally coplanar manner relative to the tissue contacting surfaces.

An electrosurgical instrument with first and second branches that are pivotably supported by a support pin is disclosed. The first branch has a first tissue contact surface and the second branch has a second tissue contact surface. The two tissue contact surfaces are electrically connected with an electric connection device at the first branch. The electric connection is at least partly established via a respective conductor. The second conductor is integrally formed by one single body. The second conductor has a contact section with at least one contact part in contact with an electrically conductive circumferential surface of the support pin, such that an electric rotation connection is established between the contact section and the support pin. In this manner the second conductor arranged in the first branch can establish an electric connection with the second branch via the support pin and further with the second tissue contact surface.

An electrosurgical device having a pair of jaws, at least one electrode supported by one of the pair of jaws, and a sheet of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene positioned in covering relation to at least a portion of the at least one electrode. The sheet may have a porosity of between thirty and ninety percent. The sheet may have a plurality of pores with an average diameter of between 0.2 and 1.0 micrometers.

An apparatus includes a tube, a support element, multiple spines proximally coupled to the tube, and multiple electrodes coupled to the spines. The spines include respective expandable superelastic elements, and respective polymeric elements extending from respective distal ends of the superelastic elements and coupled to a surface of the support element by virtue of being bent proximally, into alignment with the surface, at a distal end of the support element. Other examples are also described.

A tissue resecting or other medical device includes a handle coupled to an elongated shaft. A radiofrequency (RF) electrode is carried at a distal end of the elongated shaft, and the electrode is moveable across a window in a sleeve or other component of the shaft. The shaft has an interior channel connectable to a negative pressure source to remove debris from the channel. A motor is carried by the handle and operatively coupled to the electrode for moving the electrode relative to the window. An electronic image sensor and lens are disposed at a distal end of the shaft, and a plurality of conductors may extend through the shaft to the image sensor. The image sensor, lens and sensor conductors are disposed within a first tubular member, and an LED or other light source is also positioned at a distal end of the shaft with LED conductors or leads extending through a second tubular member of the shaft to the LED.

An RF catheter for treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy includes: a body part constituting a catheter body made of a flexible and soft material; and an intraseptal insertion part provided at a distal part of the body part and having one or more electrodes, a tapered tip gradually becoming thinner toward an end thereof, and a guidewire lumen therein, into which a guidewire is inserted, so that during hypertrophic cardiomyopathy treatment, the intraseptal insertion part is inserted into the interventricular septum along the guidewire. A method of treating hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by using an RF ablation catheter includes: i) positioning the guidewire to a hypertrophied septum through a coronary sinus and a septal vein; ii) transferring the RF ablation catheter to the hypertrophied septum; and iii) performing RF ablation by applying RF energy to the electrodes provided at an end part of the RF ablation catheter by using an RF generator.