Apparatus for expanding body tissue
AssigneeLaserSurge, Inc.
InventorJude S. Sauer
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A surgical apparatus for manipulating body tissue including a hollow needle, a bulb connected to the needle for aspirating air through an end of the needle, a flexible guide wire extending through the needle, a fitting on one end of the guide wire for permitting the guide wire to be reciprocated with the same hand that holds the instrument, from a retracted position substantially within the needle, to an extended position in which a substantial length of the guide wire extends beyond an end of the needle, an expandable dilator attached to the dilation tip for dilating a tracheal wall when the dilator is inflated, and a tracheostomy tube detachably mounted with respect to the dilator for placement into a lumen of a trachea.
Claims24
An apparatus for performing a one-handed percutaneous tracheostomy comprising:
- a hollow needle;
- a bulb connected to the needle for aspirating air though an end of the needle;
- a flexible guide wire extending through the needle;
- a fitting on one end of the guide wire for permitting the guide wire to be reciprocated with one of a user's hands that holds the instrument, from a retracted position substantially within the needle, to an extended position in which a substantial length of the guide wire extends beyond an end of the needle;
- an expandable dilator attached to the dilation tip for dilating a patient's tracheal wall when the dilator is expanded;
- and
- a tracheostomy tube detachably mounted with respect to the dilator for placement into a patient's tracheal lumen.
In an apparatus for performing a one-handed tracheostomy, the improvement for locating a patient's tracheal lumen comprising:
- a needle extending from the apparatus for insertion through the tracheal wall into a patient's tracheal lumen;
- a resilient guide wire extending through the needle;
- a fitting on a proximal end of the guide wire for engagement with one hand used to grip the apparatus;
- and
- a manually operable bulb operable by the same one hand while gripping the apparatus coupled to the needle for aspirating air through the needle for determining whether an end of the needle is located in a patient's tracheal lumen or in the patient's tracheal wall.
In an apparatus for performing a one-handed tracheostomy, the improvement for guiding a tracheostomy tube into a patient's tracheal lumen comprising:
- a handle;
- a resilient guide wire having a fitting on a proximal end extending from the handle for engagement with one hand of a user, used to grip the apparatus and a distal end extendible into a patient's trachea for determining, by reciprocal movement of the guide wire, when the distal end of the wire is positioned in a patient's tracheal lumen.
A method for performing a one-handed percutaneous tracheostomy comprising:
- inserting a hollow needle through a tracheal wall with the one hand;
- deflating a bulb with the one hand to aspirate air through the needle to verify that the needle is within the lumen of a trachea;
- extending a guide wire from an end of the needle with the one hand;
- retracting the needle from the trachea while leaving the guide wire in place;
- extending an expandable dialator over the guide wire into the tracheal wall;
- expanding the dialator with the one hand to dilate the tracheal wall;
- and
- sliding the dilator and a tracheostomy tube into the lumen of the trachea.
A method for performing a percutaneous tracheostomy comprising:
- inserting a hollow needle through a tracheal wall;
- aspirating air through the needle to verify that the needle is within the lumen of a trachea;
- extending a guide wire from an end of the needle;
- oscillating the guide wire to ensure that it is in the lumen of the trachea;
- retracting the needle from the trachea while leaving the guide wire in place;
- inserting an expandable dialator into the tracheal wall;
- expanding the dialator to dilate the tracheal wall;
- inserting a tracheostomy tube through the dilated tracheal wall into the lumen of the trachea;
- at least partially contracting the expandable dilator;
- and
- removing the dilator through the tracheostomy tube.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.