Wound retractor clamp

#This document relates generally to medical devices, and more particularly, to surgical wound retractors for use in minimally invasive surgical procedures.

#Surgical systems that operate at least in part with computer-assisted control (“telesurgical systems”), such as those employed for minimally invasive medical procedures, can include large and complex equipment to precisely control relatively small instruments. Such systems are sometimes referred to as robotic surgical systems or surgical robots. The da Vinci® Surgical Systems commercialized by Intuitive Surgical, Inc. are examples of telesurgical systems.

#Various telesurgical system architectures exist. Some system architectures enable multiple (e.g., two, three, four, or more) surgical instruments to enter the body through a single body opening (surgical incision or natural orifice), and these systems are sometimes referred to as “single-port” systems (e.g., the da Vinci SP® Surgical System). Other system architectures enable multiple surgical instruments to enter the body individually at corresponding multiple locations, and these systems are sometimes referred to as “multi-port” systems (e.g., the da Vinci Xi® Surgical System). Persons of skill in the art will understand that multi-port systems may sometimes be configured during surgery to operate through a single natural body orifice, such as the mouth or anus, or through a single incision (e.g., Intuitive Surgical's Single Site® technology used with a da Vinci Xi® Surgical System). Persons of skill in the art will also understand that single- and multi-port configurations may be combined simultaneously in a single telesurgical system (e.g., two or more instruments inserted via one body opening, and one or more other instruments inserted via one or more corresponding other body openings).

#In the drawings, which are not necessarily to scale, like numerals describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes represent different instances of similar components. The drawings illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in this document.

#FIG. 1A is a perspective view depicting example wound retractor 100 in accordance with this disclosure.

#FIG. 1B is a section view depicting details of a proximal ring of the wound retractor of FIG. 1A.

#FIG. 1A is a perspective view depicting example wound retractor 100 in accordance with this disclosure. During some surgical procedures, wound retractors are used to seal the incision and hold the incised edges of the incision in an open position. Use of wound retractors during surgical procedures, including, for example, during teleoperated surgical procedures, may provide protection against infection and prevent or protect against trauma to the incision and surrounding body wall. Wound retractors often do not include structures for maintaining insufflation pressure or sealing the surgical site against contaminants. As such, wound retractors can be made to be coupled to an instrument access port device to establish and maintain insufflation pressure and to seal the surgical site against contaminants.

#In FIG. 1A, wound retractor 100 includes sleeve 102 having distal ring 104 and proximal ring 106, auto-locking collar 108, removal tether 110 and removal ring 112. Sleeve 102 can be a flexible and/or elastic annular sheath that can have a generally cylindrical configuration disposed along longitudinal axis 114. Sleeve 102 can be made from a variety of polymers, including, for example, a variety of polyurethane plastics. In one example, sleeve 102 is made from a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) film. In one example, sleeve 102 is made from a polyether based TPU, which may exhibit superior microbial resistance than other types of TPUs (e.g., polyester based TPUs).

#Sleeve 102 can have elastic properties to allow the sleeve to be stretched between distal and proximal rings 104 and 106 to apply a retraction force on and to thereby dilate the incision to a target size (e.g., diameter). However, the elasticity of sleeve 102 may be relatively small, in some examples. The material of sleeve 102 may be chosen, for example, because it is not overly stretchy/elastic. Films that are too elastic may make it too difficult to open the incision because the film won't transmit enough of the axial tension in sleeve 102 to radial forces that open the walls of the incision. Thus, the material of sleeve 102 may have properties that are selected to strike a balance between resistance to elastic stretching in order to easily hold open the incision, but still possessing enough elasticity to stretch around small features of, for example, distal ring 104, proximal ring 106, and/or auto-locking collar 108.