Abstract: An electrosurgical instrument includes a shaft, a flexible portion, and a head coupled to the shaft through the flexible portion and pivotably coupled to the flexible portion. The head includes a non-conductive surface and an electrically conductive surface. The flexible portion is configured to bias the non-conductive surface and the electrically conductive surface towards a tissue surface, such as cartilage. The non-conductive surface may include a material having a thermal conductivity less than or equal to about 30 W/m*K and/or a volume resistivity greater than or equal to about 1×1014 ohm*cm. The non-conductive surface may include a ceramic such as Macor® ceramic, ZTA ceramic, and/or 99.5% alumina ceramic.

Abstract: A vehicle (100) includes vehicle systems (11-13) coupled to a vehicle bus (10) and user devices (40-60) coupled to a user bus (30), the user bus coupled to the vehicle bus by a gateway (20). The user bus transports user information and the vehicle bus transports vehicle information. Based on one or more gateway rules, the gateway transports vehicle information to the user bus for the benefit of target user devices. Also based on these gateway rules, the gateway transports user information to the vehicle bus for the benefit of target vehicle systems. The gateway rules are programmed by both user devices and vehicle systems as follows: First, a proposed rule is provided (303) to the gateway. Second, the gateway determines (305) when to accept the proposed rule based on a variety of factors. Third, when the proposed rule is accepted, the proposed rule becomes (307) a gateway rule.