Electrosurgical forceps for delivering RF and/or microwave energy into biological tissue

摘要

An electrosurgical forceps 100 comprises a pair of jaw elements 102, 104 connected to each other via a pivot joint 106 at a proximal end thereof; at least a pair of elongate conductive elements (142, 144, Fig 4A) being mounted in the jaw elements, arranged to act as an active electrode and a return electrode and electrically connected to a coaxial cable 114 for conveying radiofrequency (RF) energy and/or microwave energy to them. The elongate conductive elements also act as a non resonant non-uniform unbalanced lossy transmission line to support the microwave energy as a travelling wave. The pivot joint is constructed so as to include an aperture (126, Fig 3A) for receiving the axial cable. The forceps may include a spring (124, Fig 3A) arranged to bias the jaws into an open configuration and/or a ratchet mechanism connected to a jaw closure member, permitting relative movement of the jaw elements between a plurality of preset separation positions.