Tissue remover and method

Abstract

An electromagnetically induced cutting mechanism provides accurate cutting operations on soft tissues. The electromagnetically induced cutter is adapted to interact with atomized fluid particles. A tissue remover comprises an aspiration cannula housing a fluid and energy guide for conducting electromagnetically induced cutting forces to the site within a patient's body for aspiration of soft tissue. The cannula is provided with a cannula distal end. The proximal end of the cannula is provided with fluid flow connection to an aspiration source. Separated soft tissue and fluid are aspirated through the cannula distal end and the cannula by an aspiration source at the proximal end of the cannula.

Description

PRIORITY INFORMATION[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 188,072 filed on Nov. 6, 1998 and entitled TISSUE REMOVER AND METHOD, which is commonly assigned and the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.[0002] 1. Field of the Invention[0003] The present invention relates generally to medical apparatus and, more particularly, to methods and apparatus for cutting and removing soft or hard tissue by aspiration.[0004] 2. Description of Related Art[0005] Turning to FIG. 1, a prior art optical cutter includes a fiber guide tube 5, a water line 7, an air line 9, and an air knife line 11 for supplying pressurized air. A cap 15 fits onto the hand-held apparatus 13 and is secured via threads 17. The fiber guide tube 5 abuts within a cylindrical metal piece 19. Another cylindrical metal piece 21 is a part of the cap 15. The pressurized air from the air knife line 11 surrounds and cools the laser as the laser bridge...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention is about a medical apparatus and method for cutting and removing soft or hard tissue by aspiration. The invention uses an electromagnetically induced cutter that can perform accurate cutting operations on hard and soft tissues, and other materials such as fat, skin, mucosa, gingiva, muscle, heart, liver, kidney, brain, eye, and vessels. The cutter is designed to be used for arthroscopic surgical procedures and is suitable for use in the treatment of torn menisci, anterior cruciate, posterior cruciate, patella malalignment, synovitis, and other endoscopic surgical procedures. The invention provides a more efficient and precise method for cutting and removing tissue compared to previous methods, which may have resulted in charred or thermally damaged tissue and noxious smoke.

Problems solved by technology

Use of the Nd:YAG laser for in vivo tissue removal is in some ways inefficient, since the energy from the Nd:YAG laser is not highly absorbed by water.

Adjacent tissue can be charred or thermally damaged and, further, noxious and potentially toxic smoke can be generated during the thermal cutting operations performed by these prior-art devices.

Performing an arthroscopic procedure with a high-speed rotary shaver such as the one mentioned above may result in extensive trauma to the tissue and blood vessel laceration.

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