Patent attributes
A vessel harvesting apparatus for removing a blood vessel from a patient includes collection and conditioning (i.e., treatment) of expelled insufflation gas prior to releasing the gas into the air of the operating room. An endoscopic instrument has a distal end with a vessel harvesting tip and has a proximal end with a handle. An insufflation channel is configured to convey an insufflation gas subcutaneously into a dissected space within the patient. A removal channel is configured to evacuate fluidic contents from the dissected space, wherein the fluidic contents include insufflation gas and biological impurities. A processor/separator is coupled to the removal channel to process the fluidic contents to retain at least some of the biological impurities and to exhaust the insufflation gas.