Treatments for prostatic disease use a urethral catheter with ports positioned outside a patient. The catheter's lumen has a cross-sectional shape and an electrode assembly with a shaft having a corresponding cross-sectional shape that interlocks with the shape of the lumen. The shaft includes a plurality of shaft channels, an extendable electrode in each channel, and a collar with a protruding flange that interfaces with a port when the electrode assembly is within the lumen. An electrode actuator controls actuation of the electrodes. The collar and actuator are interfaced via a keyed structure. A plurality of ports in the assembly interface with the lumen and project the electrodes outward through the catheter and into the prostate when actuated. The electrodes are extended in a predefined rotational orientation relative to the keyed structure. A power source is coupled to the electrodes and delivers direct current to the prostate.

Systems and methods for controlling energy delivered for thermal ablation. An apparatus may include a conductive member comprising an array of conductive filaments, a power supply configured to provide the current to the conductive/resistive member in a plurality of electrical pulses, and a processing circuit coupled to the power supply. The processing circuit is configured to control the supply current value to be greater than or equal to a first current density and less than or equal to a second current density, and control the pulse length to be greater than or equal to a first pulse length and less than a second pulse length, control the supply current value to have a third current density at a first time and a fourth current density at a second time.

Embodiments of medical treatment including skin treatment using electrical energy, especially with the primary purpose for skin treatment for aesthetics are described generally herein. Other embodiments may be described and claimed.

An electrosurgical instrument has a power supply operatively coupled to an end effector. The end effector has a pair of jaws for effectuating an action on tissue positioned therebetween. The power supply is configured to input a first signal and a second signal to a buck-boost converter. The buck-boost converter is configured to transmit an output to an H-bridge circuit. The H-bridge circuit is configured to pass a signal to a resonant LC transformer circuit. The power supply is configured to transmit a power signal. The pair of jaws are operatively coupled to the power supply to receive the power signal, the power having no more than 80 Volts RMS, and less than 2 Amps RMS. The power is configured to seal the tissue positioned between the pair of jaws in 3 seconds or less.

Presented are an apparatus, method and electrosurgical device for surgical procedures. An exemplary apparatus includes a body comprising a longitudinal axis and an electrical wire maintained within the body extending along the longitudinal axis, and an electrode extending from a distal end of the body operably coupled to the electrical wire, the electrode with the electrical wire operable to conduct a flow of current at a plurality of levels. The apparatus further includes a first button arranged on an external surface of the body, the first button operable for selecting the flow of current at each one of the plurality of levels through the electrical wire and the electrode, and a second button arranged on the external surface of the body adjacent the first button, the second button operable activate and deactivate the flow of current to the electrode.

A microneedling system may reciprocate a plurality of microneedles disposed on a handpiece into the skin of a patient. The microneedles and/or electrode plates may deliver RF energy to the patient for inducing collagen coagulation and regeneration. An interrogative modality such as ultrasound may combined into the microneedling handpiece or used as a separate instrument to interrogate the skin and identify or measure the thicknesses of constituent layers. The data obtained from the interrogative modality may be displayed and can be used to automatically adjust operating parameters of the microneedling device, including the penetration depth of the needles, the pulse duration, and/or the power level of the RF energy to optimize the treatment for the specific patient and/or condition being treated. The microneedling system may recall the skin measurements for distinct sectors of the skin which are expected to have different properties.

Various cartridge assemblies for surgical instruments are provided. Cartridge assemblies can include active sensors for applying stimuli to a tissue clamped by an end effector of the surgical instrument and a circuit configured to determine a tissue type of the tissue according to a change in the tissue parameter detected by the sensor resulting from a stimulus from the active element. Cartridge assemblies can also include physical features and/or stored data that identify the cartridge. Surgical instruments further can be configured to resolve conflicts when the physical features and/or stored data are not consistent with each other in their identification of the cartridge type.

A medical device equipped for switching the device on and off carries out at least one safety-relevant function in the operating state, using at least one operating parameter with a set target value. In order to ensure a reliable function of the device and not disturb a medical treatment, the device performs a first self-diagnosis following switch-on and before reaching an operating state and performs a second self-diagnosis following switch-off and before terminating the operating state, during which self-diagnoses the same operating parameter of the device is checked in each case for deviation from the target value. The technology also relates to a corresponding method for operating a medical device.

In general, thermal debriding tools and methods of using thermal debriding tools are provided. In an exemplary embodiment, a thermal debriding tool is configured to be advanced minimally invasively, e.g., arthroscopically, into a patient and to cut tissue using electrical energy. The thermal debriding tool includes a heating element configured to be positioned in contact with tissue and to be heated. The heated heating element is configured to cut the tissue so as to allow the thermal debriding tool to cut the tissue using electrical energy. The heating element can be a resistive heating element that is configured to become hot when a current is delivered to the heating element. The thermal debriding tool can include an actuator configured to be actuated to cause the current to be delivered to the heating element, thereby allowing the heating element to be heated on demand.

The present invention includes electrocautery devices and methods for surgery. The present invention includes an electrocautery device (or other surgical cutting and dissecting tool; harmonic scalpel; scissors capable of cutting, dissecting and obtaining hemostasis) comprising: (a) a handle portion; (b) an electrocautery unit integrated into said handle portion, and comprising a surgical electrode extending from said distal end thereof; (c) an ultrasonic transponder integrated into said handle portion and extending from said distal end thereof and disposed adjacent to said surgical electrode and so as to be adapted to detect differences in anatomical tissue types distally of said surgical electrode; (d) a source of current to said surgical electrode; (e) a feedback module adapted to either (1) signal the user of the electrocautery device or (2) change or interrupt the current provided by said source of current; and (f) data transmission module for transmitting data from said ultrasonic transponder, and for transmitting data to said feedback module. The present invention may be adapted to be used in conjunction with other types of scalpels, scissors, etc.; i.e., cutting and dissecting devices.