Surgical portal apparatus with waffle seal

A surgical portal apparatus, which comprises:

• a portal housing;
• an elongated portal member connected to the portal housing and depending therefrom, the portal member defining a central longitudinal axis, the portal housing and the portal member having an axial bore for reception and passage of a surgical object;
• and
• a seal member comprising a resilient material and being mounted to the portal housing, the seal member including leading and trailing end faces and having inner portions defining a passage to permit passage of the surgical object, the leading end face defining a plurality of recessed cells formed within intersecting struts, at least some of the recessed cells being arranged in a linear manner with respect to each other, the intersecting struts being relatively flexible to flex upon radial offset manipulation of the object to permit corresponding movement of the passage while substantially maintaining a seal about the surgical object, the seal member includes an annular seal collar depending from the trailing end face, the trailing end face having an internal tapered wall circumscribing the passage to facilitate alignment of the surgical object with the passage during passage through the seal member.

A surgical portal apparatus, which comprises:

• a portal housing;
• an elongated portal member connected to the portal housing and depending therefrom, the portal member defining a central longitudinal axis, the portal housing and the portal member having an axial bore for reception and passage of a surgical object;
• and
• a seal member comprising a resilient material and being mounted to the portal housing, the seal member including leading and trailing end faces and having inner portions defining a passage to permit passage of the surgical object, the leading end face defining a plurality of recessed cells formed within intersecting struts, adjacent recessed cells being defined at least in part by a common intersecting strut therebetween, the interconnected struts being relatively flexible to flex upon radial offset manipulation of the object to permit corresponding movement of the passage while substantially maintaining a seal about the surgical object, the trailing end face having a substantially planar internal tapered wall circumscribing and coterminous with the passage to facilitate alignment of the surgical object with the passage during passage through the seal member.