A surgical stapler

A surgical stapler (100) comprising:

• a stapler body (200), one end of the stapler body (200) being provisioned with a receptacle (203) to receive an affected area (220) of a specimen;
• a circular base (206) disposed proximal to the receptacle (203) and, the circular base (206) defines a curvilinear path (202b) structured to guide one staple (300a) of a plurality of staples (300) towards an outlet end (203b) defined in the receptacle (203);
• a drive mechanism (202) being structured to displace the one staple (300a) of the plurality of staples (300), the drive mechanism (202) comprises:
• a conveying member (202a) being configured to be displaced between a first position (A) and a second position (B) relative to the curvilinear path (202b);
• an actuator (212) operatively coupled to the conveying member (202a) and being actuatable to displace the conveying member (202a) between the first position (A) and the second position (B) relative to the curvilinear path (202b) to displace the one staple (300a) of the plurality of staples (300) to penetrate the affected area (220) from one end and extend out of the affected area (220) from an other end;
• and
• a deforming module (204) disposed proximal to an inlet end (203a) of the receptacle (203) and structured to deform a portion of the one staple extending out of the affected area from the other end for stapling the one staple (300a) relative to the affected area (220).

A surgical stapler assembly (150), comprising:

• a surgical stapler (100) having a stapler body (200), one end of the stapler body (200) being provisioned with a receptacle (203) to receive an affected area (220) of a specimen;
• a plurality of staples (300), one staple (300a) of the plurality of staples (300) defined with a pair of curved arms (301), one end of the pair of curved arms (301) being connected to each other via a bridge member (303) and a free end of the pair of curved arms (301) opposite to the one end defined with the bridge member (303) is defined with a tip (301a) to penetrate through the affected area (220);
• a circular base (206) disposed proximal to the receptacle (203) and, the circular base (206) defines a curvilinear path (202b) structured to guide one staple (300a) of a plurality of staples (300) towards an outlet end (203b) defined in the receptacle (203);
• a drive mechanism (202) being structured to displace the one staple of the plurality of staples on the curvilinear path defined by the circular base, out of the receptacle and through the affected area received in the receptacle;
• a deforming module (204) disposed proximal to an inlet end (203a) of the receptacle (203) and structured to deform a portion of the one staple extending out of the affected area from the other end for stapling the one staple (300a) relative to the affected area (220) and wherein the geometry of the curvilinear path (202b), the curvature of the arms (301), and the position of the deformation points (302) are cooperatively configured such that, upon complete deformation of the staple (300a), only the bridge member (303) and the portions of the curved arms (301) distal to the deformation points (302) towards the tips (301a) remain external to the skin surface of the affected area (220), while the portions of the curved arms (301) proximal to the deformation points (302) towards the bridge member (303) reside within the tissue of the affected area (220).

A method of operating a surgical stapler (100) for closing a skin incision or wound of a subject, the surgical stapler (100) comprising a stapler body (200), a receptacle (203) configured to receive an affected tissue region (220), a curvilinear staple path (202b), at least one staple (300) having a pair of curved arms (301) joined by a bridge member (303) and defining a deformation point (302) along each curved arm (301), the method comprising the steps of:

• positioning, the receptacle (203) of the stapler (100) such that opposed tissue margins of the affected region (220) are received within the receptacle in an aligned and everted orientation relative to a midline of the stapler;
• actuating, a drive mechanism (202) to displace a selected staple (300a) along the curvilinear staple path (202b) from an initial position to an applied position, causing the curved arms (301) of the staple to penetrate the tissue margins along respective curved trajectories;
• deforming, distal portions of the curved arms (301) of the staple (300a) at the deformation points (302) by engagement with a deforming module (204), such that the distal portions of the curved arms (301) turn inwardly towards each other to secure the tissue margins together;
• releasing the applied staple (300a) from the stapler (100) after deformation, wherein the geometry of the curved arms (301), the position of the deformation points (302), and the curvilinear path (202b) are cooperatively configured such that, upon completion of the stapling step, only the bridge member (303) and those portions of the curved arms (301) distal to the deformation points (302) remain external to the skin surface, while proximal portions of the curved arms (301) reside within dermal tissue, thereby maintaining epidermal eversion and generating an inward closure force with a selectable upward, horizontal, or downward bias relative to the skin surface.