Skin seal with inflatable membrane
AssigneeGeneral Surgical Innovations, Inc.
InventorsKenneth H. Mollenauer, Michelle Y. Monfort
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A skin seal or trocar stabilizer with an inflatable balloon in the shape of a dumbbell, where the balloon may be stored within a cannula for easy placement in an incision and inflated to deploy the balloon inside the body, and a portion of the balloon expands inside the cannula, whereby medical instruments may be passed through the skin seal into a laparoscopic workspace while the balloon is inflated, thereby allowing the use of normal short surgical instruments during laparoscopic procedures and during insufflation.
Claims20
A method of inserting an access port into a patient's body, comprising:
- assembling the access port with an obturator, the access port having a tube and an inflatable membrane, the tube disposed within the inflatable membrane;
- inserting the access port and obturator into an incision in the patient's body;
- removing the obturator from the access port;
- inflating the inflatable membrane such that a distal portion of the inflatable membrane extends beyond a distal end of the tube and a proximal portion of the inflatable membrane extends beyond a proximal end of the tube, wherein the inflatable membrane fills a passageway of the tube after inflation;
- and
- inserting an instrument through a lumen of the inflatable membrane and the access port into the patient's body.
A method of inserting an access port into a patient's body, comprising the steps of:
- assembling the access port with an obturator, the access port having a tube and an inflatable membrane, the inflatable membrane having a distal dumbbell portion that extends distally beyond a distal end of the tube and a proximal dumbbell portion that extends proximally beyond a proximal end of the tube, the tube disposed within a chamber of the inflatable membrane;
- inserting the access port and obturator into an incision in the patient's body;
- removing the obturator from the access port;
- inflating the inflatable membrane such that both the distal dumbbell portion and the proximal dumbbell portion engage tissue around the incision, wherein the inflatable membrane fills a passageway of the tube after inflation;
- and
- inserting an instrument through a lumen of the inflatable membrane and the access port into the patient's body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.