ArthroCare is a highly innovative, multi-business medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets products based on our internationally patented Coblation technology. This platform technology precisely dissolves target tissue and minimizes damage to surrounding, healthy tissue.

Coblation technology has improved many existing surgical procedures and enables new minimally invasive procedures. Our devices have been used in millions of cases worldwide across several medical specialties including arthroscopy; spine and neurology; ear, nose and throat; cosmetic; urology; gynecology; and laparoscopy/general surgery.  Millions of people undergo tissue surgery worldwide each year.

Our Coblation® technology offers an alternative to standard surgical techniques for removing and treating tissue.
While most radiofrequency-based surgical products, such as lasers and electrosurgical devices, use imprecise, heat-driven processes to remove or cut tissue, our Coblation-based devices operate at a lower temperature and are much more precise than traditional surgical tools. Instead of exploding tissue structures under high temperatures, Coblation technology gently dissolves target tissue, minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

The significant benefits of our Coblation technology have led to its adoption across a number of surgical specialties, including arthroscopy, spine and ENT, and research continues in new areas.
Coblation technology — a controlled, non-heat driven process — uses radiofrequency energy to excite the electrolytes in a conductive medium, such as saline solution, creating a precisely focused plasma.

The plasma's energized particles have sufficient energy to break molecular bond within tissue, causing tissue to dissolve at relatively low temperatures (typically 40°C to 70°C). The result is volumetric removal of target tissue with minimal damage surrounding tissue. Many Coblation devices also are designed to stop blood (hemostasis) and coagulate or seal bleeding vessels.

Because radiofrequency current does not pass directly through tissue during the Coblation process, tissue heating is minimal. Most of the heat is consumed in the plasma layer, or in other words, by the ionization process. These ions then bombard tissue in their path, causing molecular bonds to simply break apart and tissue to dissolve.