Appeal No. 98-0194 Page 12
Application No. 08/132,940
power of each cycle of the surgical signal. Thus, this power
is ultimately controlled by the pulse width control signal 84.
Ensslin discloses a method and apparatus for determining
the amount of energy dispensed during an electrosurgical
procedure into a patient. Ensslin teaches that as a
consequence of common electrosurgical procedures, significant
amounts of energy are dispensed to a patient's body and that
for reasons of patient safety, and consistent with
conservative surgical procedures generally, it is desirable
for a surgical team to be able to
estimate with reasonable accuracy the amount of electrical
energy
dispensed into a patient over discrete intervals of time
involved in the surgical procedures. Ensslin states (column
1, lines 39-45) that
[i]t is particularly important for the surgical team to
monitor the total energy dispensed into the patient's
body during the entire procedure from start to finish.
Unfortunately, available electrosurgical devices provide
no reliable basis from which accurate determinations of
energy dispensed into a patient can be derived.
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