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US 2016/0242800 A1Published application
Articulating surgical hand instrument
AssigneeCook Medical Technologies LLC
InventorsJeffry Scott Melsheimer, Brian Feng, Amro Kamel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A surgical hand instrument may be inserted through a trocar to facilitate laparoscopic surgery. An end effector, such as a clamp, a spreader or scissors, is actuated by moving a pair of handles between a spread configuration and a contracted configuration. The end effector may be articulated relative to an elongate hollow shaft extending through the trocar with a steering wheel positioned between the pair of handles and operably coupled to the end effector by left and right turn cables and a pair of meshed gear sections.
Claims20
A surgical hand instrument comprising:
- a hub;
- a pair of handles that includes a left handle and a right handle attached to the hub and being pivotable relative to each other between a spread configuration and a contracted configuration;
- an elongate hollow shaft attached to the hub;
- an end effector movable between an first configuration and a second configuration;
- an articulation segment attached at opposite ends to the elongate hollow shaft and the end effector, respectively;
- an articulation actuator positioned between the pair of handles and operably connected to the articulation segment by a left turn cable and a right turn cable;
- the end effector being operably coupled to the pair of handles by an effector cable such that the end effector moves between the first and second configurations responsive to the pair of handles moving between the spread and contracted configurations;
- the end effector having a cross sectional dimension equal to, or less than, an outer diameter of the elongate hollow shaft in the second configuration, but the cross sectional dimension being greater than the outer diameter of the elongate shaft in the first configuration;
- and
- a pair of meshed gear sections of the articulation segment rotating with respect to each other to articulate the end effector relative to the elongate hollow shaft responsive to movement of the articulation actuator.
7 more elements
A surgical instrument assembly comprising:
- a trocar;
- a surgical hand instrument extending through the trocar, and that including:
- a hub;
- a pair of handles that includes a left handle and a right handle attached to the hub and being pivotable relative to each other between a spread configuration and a contracted configuration;
- an elongate hollow shaft attached to the hub;
- an end effector movable between an first configuration and a second configuration;
- an articulation segment attached at opposite ends to the elongate hollow shaft and the end effector, respectively;
- an articulation actuator positioned between the pair of handles and operably connected to the articulation segment by a left turn cable and a right turn cable;
- the end effector being operably coupled to the pair of handles by an effector cable such that the end effector moves between the first and second configurations responsive to the pair of handles moving between the spread and contracted configurations;
- and
- a pair of meshed gear sections of the articulation segment rotating with respect to each other to articulate the end effector relative to the elongate hollow shaft responsive to movement of the articulation actuator.
8 more elements
A method of operating a surgical hand instrument that includes a pair of handles that include a left handle and a right handle attached to a hub;
- an elongate hollow shaft attached to the hub;
- an articulation segment attached at opposite ends to the elongate hollow shaft and an end effector, respectively;
- an articulation actuator positioned between the pair of handles and operably connected to the articulation segment by a left turn cable and a right turn cable;
- the end effector being operably coupled to the pair of handles by an effector cable;
- and the method comprising the steps of:
- moving the end effector through a trocar while the end effector is in a second configuration;
- rotating the surgical hand instrument about a trocar axis;
- articulating the end effector relative to the elongate hollow shaft responsive to movement of the articulation actuator, the left turn cable and the right turn cable;
- moving the end effector from the second configuration to an first configuration responsive to pivoting the left handle relative to the right handle and moving the effector cable;
- repositioning the surgical hand instrument relative to the trocar;
- moving the end effector from the first configuration toward the second configuration;
- and
- wherein the articulating step includes rotating a pair of meshed gear sections of the articulation segment relative to each other.
10 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.