Fingertip-mounted minimally invasive surgical instruments and methods of use
AssigneesUniversity of Massachusetts, Smith & Nephew, Inc.
InventorsWilliam C. Meyers, Steven Ek, Javier Verdura, Maureen E. Carroll, Kirk W. Charles
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention is a series of minimally invasive, miniature surgical instruments mounted directly on a surgeon's fingertips in a way that the surgeon can insert his or her hand into a patient through a minimal incision to perform surgical procedures, and also to use his or her fingers to manipulate tissues. The invention enables the surgeon to perform the procedures with all the benefits of minimally invasive surgery, but with much greater tactile sense, control, and ease of manipulation, than enabled by known minimally invasive surgical instruments.
Claims30
A fingertip-mounted minimally invasive surgical instrument comprising,
- a mount for securing the instrument to a fingertip;
- a retracting/deploying mechanism operably connected to the mount;
- and
- a tool connected to the retracting/deploying mechanism, wherein the retracting/deploying mechanism is arranged to permit the tool to be moved into a retracted position relative to the mount to expose the fingertip, and into a deployed position relative to the mount for use of the tool.
A fingertip-mounted minimally invasive surgical instrument assembly comprising,
- a tool cartridge holder for securing the instrument to a fingertip, and
- an elongate tool cartridge comprising a frame and a tool connected to a distal end of the frame,
- wherein the frame is configured to be movably attached to the holder, and the frame and holder are configured such that the frame and the attached tool can move between a retracted position and a deployed position relative to the holder.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.