Patent 6929642 was granted and assigned to Ethicon Inc. on August, 2005 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
An electrode instrument is provided and includes an electrode head and a pair of electrodes for emitting RF energy for use in thermal ablation therapy. The electrodes are movable between a collapsed configuration and deployed configuration. When collapsed, the electrodes are proximate to each other, and when deployed, the electrodes are spaced apart from each other. The electrode instrument includes linkage mechanisms that are used to maintain the electrodes in their deployed configuration.