Vitrector with disposable cutter

A vitrector handpiece, comprising:

• a cutting section comprising:
• a housing for being removably attachable from a motor section of the vitrector handpiece;
• a collar frictionally fit into and extending past an inner wall of a proximal end of the housing, the collar including an outwardly extending annular section for engagement in a corresponding cavity of the motor section;
• a cutting needle extending from inside the housing to outside of the housing;
• and
• a drive system in communication with the cutting needle,
• the drive system configured for translating rotational motion from a driver to linear motion of the cutting needle,
• the driver including a coupler for coupling with a shaft of a motor of the removably attachable motor section in a frictional engagement, the frictional engagement providing frictional forces which:
• 1) allow for a substantially complete transfer of the rotational motion from the shaft of the motor to the driver substantially free of slippage of the shaft of the motor with respect to the coupler, and 2) allow for the coupler and the shaft of the motor to be manually joined or manually separated from each other;
• and
• the removably attachable motor section including the motor in communication with the shaft.

A method for using a vitrector handpiece, the method comprising:

• obtaining a cutting section comprising:
• a housing for being removably attachable from a motor section of the vitrector handpiece;
• a collar frictionally fit into and extending past an inner wall of a proximal end of the housing, the collar including an outwardly extending annular section for engagement in a corresponding cavity of the motor section;
• a cutting needle extending from inside the housing to outside of the housing;
• and
• a drive system in communication with the cutting needle, the drive system configured for translating rotational motion from a driver to linear motion of the cutting needle, the driver including a coupler for coupling with a shaft of a motor of the removably attachable motor section in a frictional engagement, the frictional engagement providing frictional forces which:
• 1) allow for a substantially complete transfer of the rotational motion from the shaft of the motor to the driver substantially free of slippage of the shaft of the motor with respect to the coupler, and 2) allow for the coupler and shaft of the motor to be manually joined or manually separated from each other;
• and
• coupling the housing of the cutting section to the motor section in a removably attachable manner, including engaging the shaft of the motor in the coupler.