Devices and methods can be used for performing transoral surgery. For example, this document provides oral retractor devices and articulating surgical tools that are well-suited for transoral surgery uses. The devices and methods provided herein may be used to treat conditions such as, but not limited to, mouth cancer, throat cancer, tongue cancer, larynx cancer, tonsil cancer, obstructive sleep disorders, and pharyngeal diverticulum, to provide some examples.

At least some embodiments of the present disclosures are directed to a hybrid electroporation ablation catheter. In some embodiments, the hybrid electroporation ablation catheter comprises a catheter shaft having a proximal end and an opposite distal end and an electrode assembly extending from the distal end of the catheter shaft and the electrode assembly comprising a plurality of energy-delivering electrodes. The electrode assembly is configured to be selectively operable in a plurality of different operation modes.

A control device (1) for an electrosurgical instrument (2), in particular a high-frequency sealing instrument, including a fixed handle part (3), a movable handle part (4), an activation element (5) for activating a current flow, in particular a first type, preferably a sealing current, wherein the activation element (5) is or can be adjusted between a deactivation position and at least one activation position when the movable handle part (4) is actuated, wherein, when the movable handle part (4) is actuated, the activation element (5) is or can be adjusted about an axis of rotation (7).

A system is configured to delivering radiofrequency power to the endometrial lining tissue of a uterine cavity, including modulating the delivered power so that a measured impedance of the endometrial lining tissue tracks a target impedance as a function of time, wherein the target tissue impedance is derived from a function that approximates a preferred endometrial lining tissue ablation impedance curve that is determined based upon a measured impedance of the endometrial lining tissue after RF power has been delivered for a predetermined initial time period.

An electrosurgical system comprising: a plurality of electrosurgical connection units, each electrosurgical connection unit comprising an input port connectable to an electrosurgical channel and an output port connectable to an electrosurgical instrument, the electrosurgical connection unit configured to connect the input port to the output port; an electrosurgical network comprising a plurality of electrosurgical links that connect the input ports of the electrosurgical connection units to an electrosurgical channel; and a control unit configured to: receive information from a device indicating that the device has detected an electrosurgical generator connected to the electrosurgical channel, the device being one of the electrosurgical connection units and an electrosurgical output device connected to the electrosurgical channel; determine a location of the electrosurgical generator in the electrosurgical network based on the received information; and transmit one or more control signals to the electrosurgical connection units and/or one or more electrosurgical output devices connected to the electrosurgical channel to cause the output port of a selected combination of electrosurgical connection units to be connected to the electrosurgical channel based on the determined location of the electrosurgical generator.

The present disclosure is directed to a system and method for measuring impedance across a plurality of electrodes and assessing proximity or contact between electrodes of a medical device and patient tissue. In one embodiment, contact is assessed individual electrodes and cardiac tissue using bipolar electrode complex impedance measurements. Initially, baseline impedance values are established for each of the individual electrodes based on the responses of the electrodes to the applied drive signals. After establishing the baseline impedance values a series of subsequent impedance values are measured for each electrode. For each electrode, each subsequent impedance value may be compared to a previous baseline impedance value for that electrode. If a subsequent impedance value is less than the baseline impedance value for a given electrode, the baseline impedance value may be reset to the subsequent impedance value. Such systems and method are particularly applicable to medical devices having numerous electrodes.

A method for ablating tissue by applying at least one pulse train of pulsed-field energy. The method includes delivering a pulse train of energy having a predetermined frequency to cardiac tissue, the pulse train including at least 60 pulses, an inter-phase delay between 0 μs and 5 μs, an inter-pulse delay of at least 5 μs, and a pulse width of 5 μs.

A surgical system includes a first surgical device comprising a control circuit. The control circuit is configured to be situationally aware of events occurring within the vicinity of the first surgical device according to data received from a database, a patient monitoring device, or a paired surgical device, or any combination of a database, patient monitoring device, or paired surgical device. The control circuit is configured to be wirelessly paired with a second surgical device according to usage of the first surgical device and the events of which the first surgical device is situationally aware.

A surgical tool includes a drive housing, a shaft extending from the drive housing, an end effector at an end of the shaft and having opposing jaws and a cutting element, and an unclamp lockout mechanism. The unclamp lockout mechanism including a pawl rotatably mounted to the shaft and positioned proximal to a closure yoke operatively coupled to the shaft, the pawl being pivotable between a stowed position, where the pawl is received within an aperture of the shaft, and a deployed position, where the pawl protrudes out of the aperture, and a biasing device that biases the pawl toward the stowed position. When the pawl is in the stowed position, the closure yoke is movable to a proximal position over at least a portion of the pawl to open the opposing jaws. When the pawl is in the deployed position, the closure yoke is prevented from moving to the proximal position.

A generator, ultrasonic device, and method for controlling a temperature of an ultrasonic blade are disclosed. A control circuit coupled to a memory determines an actual resonant frequency of an ultrasonic electromechanical system comprising an ultrasonic transducer coupled to an ultrasonic blade by an ultrasonic waveguide. The actual resonant frequency is correlated to an actual temperature of the ultrasonic blade. The control circuit retrieves from the memory a reference resonant frequency of the ultrasonic electromechanical system. The reference resonant frequency is correlated to a reference temperature of the ultrasonic blade. The control circuit then infers the temperature of the ultrasonic blade based on the difference between the actual resonant frequency and the reference resonant frequency. The control circuit controls the temperature of the ultrasonic blade based on the inferred temperature.