Importance

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Abstract

Electrosurgical energy is used in combination with a surgical tool to seal vessels and vascular tissue of a patient. One of the important advances of the present system is that it can effectively seal vessels of a patient without leaving any foreign material in the body of the patient. The present system is also capable of sealing vessels as large as ten millimeters in diameter. Another advantage of the present system is that the surgeon can visually inspect the integrity of the seal. The invention works with a combination of pressure and controlled application of electrosurgical energy to achieve the desired result. A surgical tool is used to grasp and apply an appropriate amount of closure force to the tissue of the patient. The tool is capable of conducting electrosurgical energy to the tissue concurrently with the application of the closure force. A method for sealing vessels and vascular tissue of a patient includes the steps of applying pressure to the vessels and other tissues of the patient; applying a first level of electrosurgical power to the vessels and other tissue sufficient to melt proteins in the tissue; applying a second level of electrosurgical power to the vessels and other tissue sufficient to cause desiccation without charring; reducing the electrosurgical power substantially to zero for a length of time sufficient to allow the vessels and other tissues to cool into a new compressed form; and relieving the pressure on the tissue.

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First Claim