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US 5,657,921 AGranted
Apparatus for applying surgical fasteners
AssigneeUnited States Surgical Corporation
InventorsWayne P. Young, Daniel E. Alesi, Kenneth E. Toso
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus is provided for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue. The apparatus has a handle assembly and an elongated body which extends distally from the handle assembly. A fastener applying assembly is operatively associated with a distal end of the elongated body and includes a cartridge housing a plurality of staples and an anvil movable between an open position and a closed position. An actuation assembly is configured to translate through the fastener applying assembly to effect progressive closure of the anvil and concomitantly effect sequential ejection of staples from the cartridge.
Claims20
An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:
- a) a handle portion;
- b) an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle portion;
- c) a cartridge support supported at a distal end portion of the body portion and configured to support a cartridge, the cartridge defining a tissue contacting surface and configured to contain a plurality of surgical fasteners;
- d) an anvil defining a fastener forming portion having a first surface and a second surface opposite the first surface against which fasteners ejected from the cartridge are driven, the anvil mounted for movement with respect to the cartridge and the body portion at a location distal of the handle portion, the anvil movable from a first position to a second position wherein the second surface of the fastener forming portion and the tissue contacting surface of the cartridge are in closer cooperative alignment;
- e) an actuation mechanism configured to translate longitudinally at least partially through the fastener forming portion of the anvil to move the anvil from the first position to the second position;
- and
- f) a drive mechanism operatively associated with the actuation mechanism and actuable from the handle portion, the drive mechanism extending through the body portion to drive the actuation mechanism longitudinally.
4 more elements
An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:
- a) a handle portion;
- b) an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle portion;
- c) a cartridge support supported at a distal end of the body portion and configured to support a cartridge, the cartridge defining a tissue contacting surface and configured to contain a plurality of surgical fasteners;
- d) an anvil defining a fastener forming surface against which fasteners ejected from the cartridge are driven, the anvil mounted for movement with respect to the cartridge and the body portion at a location distal of the handle portion, the anvil movable from a first position to a second position wherein the fastener forming surface and the tissue contacting surface are in closer cooperative alignment, the anvil having a longitudinal extending slot defined therein;
- e) an actuation mechanism configured to translate longitudinally at least partially through the longitudinally extending slot of the anvil to move the anvil from the first position to the second position and at least partially through the cartridge, the actuation mechanism including a plurality of spaced apart cam bars configured to engage a plurality of staple pushers disposed within the cartridge to effect the ejection of surgical fasteners therefrom;
- and
- f) a drive mechanism operatively associated with the actuation mechanism and actuable from the handle portion, the drive mechanism extending through the body portion to drive the actuation mechanism longitudinally.
4 more elements
An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:
- a) a handle portion;
- b) an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle portion;
- c) a cartridge support supported at a distal end of the body portion and configured to support a cartridge, the cartridge defining a tissue contacting surface and configured to contain a plurality of surgical fasteners;
- d) an anvil defining a fastener forming surface against which fasteners ejected from the cartridge are driven, the anvil mounted for movement with respect to the cartridge and the body portion at a location distal of the handle portion, the anvil movable from a first position to a second position wherein the fastener forming surface and the tissue contacting surface are in closer cooperative alignment;
- e) an actuation mechanism configured to translate longitudinally at least partially through the anvil to move the anvil from the first position to the second position;
- f) a cutting blade mounted on the actuation mechanism for cutting tissue as the actuation mechanism is driven longitudinally;
- and
- g) a drive mechanism operatively associated with the actuation mechanism and actuable from the handle portion, the drive mechanism extending through the body portion to drive the actuation mechanism longitudinally.
5 more elements
An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:
- a) a handle portion;
- b) an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle portion;
- c) a cartridge support supported at a distal end portion of the body portion and configured to support a cartridge, the cartridge defining a tissue contacting surface and configured to contain a plurality of surgical fasteners;
- d) an anvil including a first surface defining a fastener forming surface against which fasteners ejected from the cartridge are driven and a second surface opposite the first surface, the anvil having a longitudinal slot extending through the first and second surfaces, the anvil mounted for movement with respect to the cartridge and the body portion at a location distal of the handle portion, the anvil movable from a first position to a second position wherein the fastener forming surface and the tissue contacting surface are in closer cooperative alignment;
- e) an actuation mechanism configured to translate longitudinally at least partially through the longitudinal slot of the anvil to move the anvil from the first position to the second position;
- and
- f) a drive mechanism operatively associated with the actuation mechanism and actuable from the handle portion, the drive mechanism extending through the body portion to drive the actuation mechanism longitudinally.
4 more elements
An apparatus for applying surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising:
- a) a handle portion;
- b) an elongated body portion extending distally from the handle portion;
- c) a cartridge support supported at a distal end of the body portion and configured to support a cartridge, the cartridge defining a tissue contacting surface and configured to contain a plurality of surgical fasteners;
- d) an anvil having a first surface defining a fastener forming surface against which fasteners ejected from the cartridge are driven, a second surface opposite the first surface and a longitudinal slot extending through the first and second surfaces, the anvil movable from a first position to a second position wherein the fastener forming surface and the tissue contacting surface are in closer cooperative alignment;
- and
- e) an anvil damping mechanism remote from and operatively associated with the handle portion and configured to translate longitudinally at least partially through the longitudinal slot to move the anvil from the first position to the second position.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.