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US 8,940,005 B2Granted
Locking flexible surgical instruments
AssigneeGyrus Ent, L.L.C.
InventorKevin C. Edwards
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A flexible-shaft surgical instrument has a compression member that is distally movable to provide a compression force between the compression member and a distal compression bearing to compress a plurality of links and rigidly lock a semi-rigid tube formed by those links at any of a variety of user-selectable predetermined positions. The semi-rigid tube is configured to be bent and locked at the user-selectable predetermined position and, upon proximal movement of the compression member, returned to an unlocked state without significant plastic deformation of the semi-rigid tube.
Claims20
A flexible-shaft surgical instrument comprising:
- a semi-rigid tube having a distal end and a proximal end, the semi-rigid tube comprising (i) a distal-most link, (ii) a proximal-most link and (iii) a plurality of intermediate links disposed between the distal-most link and the proximal-most link, each of the plurality of intermediate links including a male portion and a female portion, the male portion being inserted into the female portion of an adjacent link;
- a surgical device having an elongated portion with a distal end, a proximal end and an intermediate portion between the distal and proximal ends, at least part of the intermediate portion being flexible, at least part of the surgical device being disposed within a hollow portion of the semi-rigid tube such that at least some of the plurality of intermediate links are aligned with at least part of the intermediate portion of the surgical device;
- a distal compression ring that is provided on the surgical device at a position that is adjacent to the distal end of the surgical device, the distal compression ring radially protruding from an outer surface of the surgical device;
- and
- a compression member that is movably attached to the surgical device at a position that is proximal to the proximal end of the semi-rigid tube, the semi-rigid tube being disposed between the compression member and the distal compression ring, the compression member being distally movable relative to the surgical device to apply a compressive force to the semi-rigid tube that causes at least the proximal-most link to move distally and that presses the semi-rigid tube against the distal compression ring to urge the plurality of links together and rigidly lock the semi-rigid tube and the intermediate portion of the surgical device at a user-selectable predetermined bend angle, the compression member being proximally movable to release the compressive force from the semi-rigid tube and thereby return the semi-rigid tube and the intermediate portion of the surgical device to an unlocked state.
2 more elements
A surgical cutting instrument comprising:
- an inner tube having a distal end and a proximal end, the inner tube including a cutting surface at the distal end and a flexible portion located between the distal end and the proximal end;
- an outer tube having a distal tip and a proximal tip, the outer tube being hollow and including a cutting window at the distal tip and a flexible portion located between the distal tip and the proximal tip, the inner tube being disposed within the outer tube so as to align the cutting surface of the inner tube with the cutting window of the outer tube;
- a semi-rigid tube disposed around at least the flexible portion of the outer tube and having a distal end and a proximal end, the semi-rigid tube comprising (i) a distal-most link, (ii) a proximal-most link and (iii) a plurality of intermediate links disposed between the distal-most link and the proximal-most link, at least some of the intermediate links being disposed around at least the flexible portion of the outer tube, each of the intermediate links including a male portion and a female portion, the male portion being insertable into the female portion of an adjacent link;
- a distal compression bearing that is provided on an outer surface of the outer tube at a position that is adjacent to the distal tip of the outer tube, the distal compression bearing radially protruding from the outer surface of the outer tube;
- and
- a compression member that is movably attached to the outer surface of the outer tube at a position that is proximal to the proximal end of the semi-rigid tube, the semi-rigid tube being disposed between the compression member and the distal compression bearing, the compression member being distally movable relative to the outer tube to apply a compressive force to the semi-rigid tube that causes at least the proximal-most link to move distally along the outer surface of the outer tube and that presses the semi-rigid tube against the distal compression bearing to urge the plurality of links together and rigidly lock the semi-rigid tube, the outer tube and the inner tube at a user-selectable predetermined bend angle, the compression member being proximally movable to release the compressive force from the semi-rigid tube and thereby return the semi-rigid tube, the outer tube and the inner tube to an unlocked state.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.