Smoke suction flow regulator

A smoke evacuation regulator for use in managing removal of smoke from a flow of gas during an endoscopic surgical procedure, the smoke evacuation regulator comprising:

• a body portion having a gas pathway extending from a first end to a second end of the body;
• a knob assembly comprising:
• a head positioned at a first end of the knob assembly, the head sized to receive a rotational force from a user of the smoke evacuation regulator and having tactile indicia arranged on an outer surface identifiable by user touch to indicate a plurality of unique rotational positions of the head;
• a gas pathway blocking extension positioned coaxially with, and extending away from, the head positioned at the first end of the knob assembly;
• and
• a knob assembly protrusion extending radially away from an axis of the gas pathway blocking extension and positioned between the head and a distal end of the gas pathway blocking extension;
• and
• wherein the body portion defines a knob assembly receiving region extending through the gas pathway and positioned between the first and second ends of the body, the knob assembly receiving region comprising:
• a threaded portion for receiving a complementary threaded portion on the knob assembly, wherein the threaded portion and the complementary threaded portion cooperate to move the gas pathway blocking extension from a completely closed position to a completely open position over a single revolution of the knob assembly relative to the body;
• and
• a retaining arm connected to the body portion and sized to limit a perpendicular movement of the knob assembly relative to the body.

A smoke evacuation regulator for use in managing removal of smoke from a flow of gas during an endoscopic surgical procedure, the smoke evacuation regulator comprising:

• a body portion having a gas pathway extending from a first end to a second end of the body;
• and
• a gas flow adjuster movably positioned on the body portion, the gas flow adjuster being adjustable to a plurality of positions relative to the body portion to controllably set a gas flow via the gas flow path;
• wherein the gas flow adjuster further comprises:
• a head positioned at a first end of the gas flow adjuster, the head sized to receive a force from a user of the smoke evacuation regulator and having tactile indicia arranged on an outer surface identifiable by user touch to indicate a plurality of unique positions of the gas flow adjuster relative to the body portion;
• and
• a gas pathway blocking extension positioned coaxially with, and extending away from, the head positioned at the first end of the gas flow adjuster;
• and
• a travel limiter extension positioned along the gas flow adjuster;
• and
• wherein the body portion defines a gas flow control opening opening in the gas pathway between the first and second ends of the body, the gas flow control opening sized to receive the gas pathway blocking extension;
• and
• wherein the body portion further comprises a flexible travel limiter arm positioned on an exterior of the body portion, the flexible travel limiter arm movable to permit assembly of the body portion and the gas flow adjuster, and positioned to contact the travel limiter extension to limit a range of movement of the gas flow adjuster relative to the body portion and to prevent disassembly of the gas flow adjuster from the body portion during operation of the smoke evacuation regulator.