Self-contained powered surgical apparatus

A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:

• a) an elongate body defining a longitudinal axis and housing a plurality of surgical fasteners disposed within a feed track;
• b) an anvil positioned at a distal end of the elongate body adjacent a terminal end of the feed path for forming the surgical fasteners;
• c) a constant force spring for biasing the surgical fasteners toward the terminal end of the feed track;
• d) a fastener pusher mounted for longitudinal movement within the elongate body to individually urge the surgical fasteners toward the anvil;
• e) a barrel cam assembly disposed within the elongate body and including a linearly translating member operatively connected to the fastener pusher, and an axially rotating member mounted coaxial with the linearly translating member for effectuating the translation thereof;
• f) a motor assembly disposed within the elongate body and having a rotating drive shaft for driving the rotating member of the barrel cam assembly, the linearly translating member moving both in a distal direction and a proximal direction in response to the rotating member rotating in only one axial direction;
• and
• g) a power source disposed within the elongate body for energizing the motor assembly.

A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:

• a) an elongate body defining a longitudinal axis and configured to house a plurality of surgical fasteners;
• b) an anvil positioned adjacent a distal end of the elongate body for forming surgical fasteners;
• c) a fastener pusher mounted for longitudinal movement within the elongate body to individually urge surgical fasteners toward the anvil;
• d) a barrel cam assembly disposed within the elongate body for effectuating continuous uniform reciprocatory longitudinal movement of the fastener pusher;
• e) a motor assembly disposed within the elongate body for driving the barrel cam assembly;
• f) a power source disposed within the elongate body for energizing the motor assembly;
• and
• g) an actuator disposed at a location proximate an intermediate portion of the elongate body and wrapped substantially around a circumference thereof for selectively controlling the operation of the motor assembly.