Ergonomic surgical instruments
AssigneeUniversity of Massachusetts
InventorRaymond Dunn
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Contoured surgical instruments, including contoured forceps gripping surfaces, are presented. The instruments can have a first arm with a contoured surface and a second arm with a contoured surface to provide for rotation in the hand of a user. Instruments including the contoured gripping surfaces have an ergonomic shape, favorable weight distribution, improved tactile response, and a construction suitable for precise grasping and manipulation required in many surgical procedures. The contoured gripping surfaces are applicable to a variety of dental and surgical instruments.
Claims50
A surgical instrument, comprising:
- a handle comprising a contoured compressible grasping surface having a distal protruding section, a trough section, and a proximal protruding section arranged along a longitudinal axis of the handle, at least the trough section including a plurality of spaced protrusions that deform upon application of manual pressure, and
- a surgical instrument mounted on a distal end of the handle.
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A surgical forceps comprising:
- a first arm having a first contoured compressible grasping surface;
- and a second arm attached to the first arm, the second arm having a second contoured compressible grasping surface such that the first and second compressible grasping surfaces of the forceps can be held in a hand of a user, wherein the first contoured compressible surface and the second contoured compressible surface each include a distal protruding section, a trough section, and a larger protruding section extending along a longitudinal axis of each respective arm, and a first tip coupled to the first arm and a second tip coupled to the second arm such that the tips undergo relative movement upon application of manual force to each compressible grasping surface.
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A surgical forceps comprising:
- a unitary polymer forceps having a first arm and a second arm;
- a first contoured grasping surface on the first arm that includes a distal protrusion, a trough and a larger proximal protrusion extending along the first contoured compressible grasping surface;
- and a second contoured grasping surface on the second arm that includes a distal protrusion, a trough and a larger proximal protrusion extending along the second contoured compressible grasping surface.
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A method for performing a surgical procedure with a surgical instrument, comprising:
- manually grasping a handle having elevated surface features to provide a contoured compressible grasping surface having a distal protruding section, a trough section, and a proximal protruding section arranged along a longitudinal axis of the handle, the elevated surface features having a height that compress a distance in a range between 4-15% of the height upon application of a manual grasping force.
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Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.