US Patent 9554854 Detecting short circuits in electrosurgical medical devices

Various embodiments are directed to an electrosurgical systems and methods for providing an electrosurgical signal to a patient. An electrosurgical signal defining a plurality of pulses may be provided to first and second electrodes. A first reading may be received indicating an impedance between the first and second electrodes taken at a first point of a first pulse of the electrosurgical signal. A second reading may indicate the impedance a first point of a second pulse of the electrosurgical signal, where the first point of the first pulse and the first point of the second pulse are at equivalent positions within the first and second pulses. Based on a comparison of the first reading and the second reading, a short circuit may be determined and a signal indicating the short circuit may be generated.