1. A device comprising:
a surgical instrument having a distal end adapted to perform a surgical procedure on a patient and a proximal end adapted to be controllable by an operator, the instrument including:
a pressure lumen having sufficient burst strength to conduct a high pressure liquid towards the distal end of the instrument, the pressure lumen including at least one nozzle providing a jet opening and being shaped and positioned to form a liquid tissue-cutting jet as a liquid at high pressure flows therethrough;
a rotatable shaft;
a surgical component drivable by the shaft; and
at least one electrocautery electrode.
2. The device as in claim 1, wherein the proximal end of the instrument includes a body.
3. The device as in claim 2, wherein the rotatable shaft extends from the body of the instrument towards the distal end of the instrument.
4. The device as in claim 3, wherein the surgical component is positioned at a distal end of the rotatable shaft.
5. The device as in claim 1, wherein the at least one electrocautery electrode is positioned at the distal end of the instrument.
6. The device as in claim 2, further comprising:
a liquid jet-driven rotatable rotor, positioned within the body of the instrument, the rotor being drivingly coupled to a proximal end of the rotatable shaft, when the instrument is in operation, such that rotation of the liquid jet-driven rotatable rotor causes a corresponding rotation of the rotatable shaft.
7. The device as in claim 2, further comprising:
an evacuation lumen, including a jet-receiving opening locatable opposite the jet opening at a predetermined distance therefrom to receive the liquid cutting jet when the instrument is in operation.
8. The device as in claim 7, wherein the evacuation lumen is shaped and positionable to enable evacuation of essentially all of the liquid comprising the liquid cutting jet from the jet-receiving opening to a proximal end of the evacuation lumen without the need for an external source of suction coupled in fluid communication with the evacuation lumen.
9. The device as in claim 7, wherein the at least one electrocautery electrode comprises a portion of an external surface of at least one of the pressure lumen and the evacuation lumen.
10. The device as in claim 9, wherein the evacuation lumen is connected in electrical communication with a positive terminal of an external power supply.
11. The device as in claim 10, wherein the evacuation lumen has an outer surface that is electrically insulated and includes a first region near the distal end of the lumen that is not electrically insulated and that forms an electrocautery electrode and a second region located within the body of the instrument that is not electrically insulated and forms an electrical contact with the positive terminal of an external power supply.
12. A device comprising:
a surgical instrument having a distal end adapted to perform a surgical procedure on a patient and a proximal end adapted to be controllable by an operator, the instrument including:
a rotatable shaft;
a surgical component drivable by the shaft;
a liquid jet-driven rotatable rotor drivingly coupled to the rotatable shaft, when the instrument is in operation, such that rotation of the liquid jet-driven rotatable rotor causes a corresponding rotation of the rotatable shaft; and
at least one electrocautery electrode.
13. A device comprising:
a surgical instrument having a distal end adapted to perform a surgical procedure on a patient and a proximal end adapted to be controllable by an operator, the instrument including:
a pressure lumen having sufficient burst strength to conduct a high pressure liquid towards the distal end of the instrument, the pressure lumen including at least one nozzle providing a jet opening and being shaped and positioned to form a liquid tissue-cutting jet as a liquid at high pressure flows therethrough;
an evacuation lumen, including a jet-receiving opening locatable opposite the jet opening at a predetermined distance therefrom to receive the liquid cutting jet when the instrument is in operation; and
at least one electrocautery electrode.
14. The device as in claim 13, wherein the at least one electrode comprises at least a portion of the external surface of at least one of the pressure lumen and evacuation lumen.
15. The device as in claim 13, wherein the external surface of the pressure lumen is coated with an essentially continuous layer of electrical insulation and includes an uncoated region at a distal end of the pressure lumen, which region forms an electrocautery electrode.
16. The device as in claim 13, wherein the external surface of the evacuation lumen is coated with an essentially continuous layer of electrical insulation and includes an uncoated region at a distal end of the evacuation lumen, which region forms an electrocautery electrode.
17. The device as in claim 13, wherein the pressure lumen or the evacuation lumen is connected in electrical communication with a positive terminal of an external power supply.
18. The device as in claim 13, wherein the evacuation lumen is shaped and positionable to enable evacuation of essentially all of the liquid comprising the liquid cutting jet from the jet-receiving opening to a proximal end of the evacuation lumen without the need for an external source of suction coupled in fluid communication with the evacuation lumen.
19. The device as in claim 18, wherein at least one of the pressure lumen and the evacuation lumen is movable relative to the other.
20. The device as in claim 19, wherein movement of at least one of the pressure lumen and the evacuation lumen causes a change in the predetermined distance, the change in the predetermined distance causing a corresponding change in a length of the liquid cutting jet when the instrument is in operation.
21. The device as in claim 20, wherein the movement comprises a rotational movement.
22. The device as in claim 21, wherein the movement is controllable by manipulating at least a part of the proximal end of the surgical instrument.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An optical amplifier module, comprising:
a first band-splitting module (BSM) coupled to a first communication fiber to receive a first signal propagating in a first direction;
a second BSM coupled to a second communication fiber to receive a second signal propagating in a second direction;
an amplifier;
a third BSM coupled to the first BSM to receive the first signal, coupled to the second BSM to receive the second signal, and coupled to the amplifier, wherein the third BSM is configured to combine the first and the second signals and provide the combined signal traveling in a common direction to the amplifier;
a fourth BSM coupled to the amplifier and configured to separate the combined signal into amplified first and amplified second signals;
a first filter coupled between the first BSM and the fourth BSM to receive the amplified second signal from the fourth BSM and to propagate the amplified second signal to the first BSM, wherein the first BSM is configured to direct the amplified second signal to the first communication fiber; and
a second filter configured to receive the amplified first signal from the fourth BSM and to propagate the amplified first signal to the second BSM, wherein the second BSM is configured to direct the amplified first signal to the second communication fiber,
wherein the first andor second filter is configured to increase an isolation loss of the amplified second signal andor amplifier first signal, respectively, the increased isolation loss achieved based on the amplified first signal andor amplifier second signal passing through more optical elements than the combined signal.
2. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein the first filter increases the isolation loss by approximately 20 dB.
3. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein the second filter increases the isolation loss by approximately 20 dB.
4. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first and second filters is a band splitting module.
5. The amplifier module of claim 4, wherein two ports of the band splitting module are used to form the at least one of the first and second filters.
6. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein isolation loss characteristics are substantially similar for the first, second, third and fourth band splitting modules.
7. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein the first and second filters are each a band splitting module and wherein isolation loss characteristics are substantially similar for all band splitting modules.
8. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first filter and second filter is at least one of a thin-film filter, a fiber Bragg grating (FBG) filter, and an array waveguide (AWG) filter.
9. The amplifier module of claim 1, wherein the first signal comprises a first plurality of wavelengths in a first band and the second signal comprises a second plurality of wavelengths in a second band.
10. The amplifier module of claim 9, wherein the amplified first signal comprises the first plurality of wavelengths in the first band and wherein the amplified second signal comprises the second plurality of wavelengths in the second band.
11. The amplifier module of claim 10, wherein at least one of the first signal and the second signal is at least one of a dense wave division multiplexed (DWDM) signal and a wave division multiplexed (WDM) signal.