# K960476: Ethicon Bipolar Scissors and Accessory Cable

- Pathway: 510(k) (Traditional)
- Applicant: ETHICON, Inc.
- Decided: Apr 5, 1996 after 64 days
- Product code: GEI (Electrosurgical, Cutting & Coagulation & Accessories)
- Device class: 2
- Regulation: 21 CFR 878.4400
- Recalls of this device: none
- Data: FDA decisions to Oct 25, 2026; recalls to Oct 12, 2026

## Lineage
No predicates in its family tree.
14 later devices descend from it; 2 cite it directly.
0 of 15 devices in its family (counting itself) have a Class I recall.

## Predicates on the family tree (from the FDA summary)
- None. The summary cites one number, which could not be confirmed as its predicate (listed below).

## Cited in the summary but kept off the family tree
- K960470: Neuro-Patch, Aesculap, Inc. (1996). Our OCR of the scanned summary read K960470, which FDA decided on May 10, 1996, after this device was decided (Apr 5, 1996), so it cannot be the predicate: a misreading, the summary’s own error, or a submission still pending at the time. Kept off the family tree. Summary page 1.

## Most influential descendants
- K972558: Bipolar Scissors (1997), 13 descendants of its own
- K981219: Oscar Bipolar Scissors and Oscar Bipolar Reusable Cartridges (1998), 8 descendants of its own
- K992996: Enable Endoscopic Bipolar Scissors (1999), 7 descendants of its own
- K001330: Sovereign Bipolar Instruments (2000), 6 descendants of its own
- K042077: Bitech Bipolar Scissors (2004), 4 descendants of its own

## Indications for use
The ETHICON Bipolar Scissors are non-sterile, reusable devices intended to facilitate cutting and bipolar coagulation of soft tissue in open surgical procedures.

Source page: https://510kreport.com/device/K960476
Methodology: https://510kreport.com/methodology