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US 9,955,988 B2Granted
Surgical devices with intracorporeal elbow joint
AssigneeEthicon Endo-Surgery, Inc.
InventorsDavid Stefanchik, Omar J. Vakharia
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Surgical devices are disclosed herein that generally include an intracorporeal elbow joint to facilitate translational movement of an end effector while allowing a body portion of the surgical device and a trocar or working channel through which the device is inserted to be maintained in a fixed angular orientation relative to the patient. This allows a plurality of such devices to be used effectively with a single incision or access device. Such devices also generally provide end effector movement with six degrees of freedom, while maintaining a mechanical linkage between the user and the end effector and while mimicking and/or mirroring natural user movement. Various methods related to such devices are also disclosed.
Claims7
A surgical device, comprising:
- an elongate body having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal axis;
- a master assembly coupled to the proximal end of the elongate body;
- a slave assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate body, the slave assembly including a distal elbow joint and an end effector;
- and
- a plurality of cables extending through the elongate body and configured to translate movement of the master assembly into movement of the slave assembly;
- wherein the distal elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between and pivotally coupled to the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- further comprising a torque tube extending between and being rigidly coupled to the first plate and a second plate, wherein the second plate is disposed between the first and second retainer housings.
4 more elements
A surgical device, comprising:
- an elongate body having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal axis;
- a master assembly coupled to the proximal end of the elongate body;
- a slave assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate body, the slave assembly including a distal elbow joint and an end effector;
- and
- a plurality of cables extending through the elongate body and configured to translate movement of the master assembly into movement of the slave assembly;
- wherein the distal elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between and pivotally coupled to the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- wherein the first and second retainer housings each have a plurality of concavities formed therein;
- wherein a proximal end of each of the plurality of rods is pivotally received within a corresponding one of the concavities of the first retainer housing, and a distal end of each of the plurality of rods is pivotally received within a corresponding one of the concavities of the second retainer housing.
5 more elements
A surgical device, comprising:
- an elongate body having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal axis;
- a master assembly coupled to the proximal end of the elongate body;
- a slave assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate body, the slave assembly including a distal elbow joint and an end effector;
- and
- a plurality of cables extending through the elongate body and configured to translate movement of the master assembly into movement of the slave assembly;
- wherein the distal elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between and pivotally coupled to the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- a first retainer insert sized to be received within the first retainer housing and having a plurality of through holes formed therein through which the plurality of cables can be routed;
- and
- a second retainer insert sized to be received within the second retainer housing and having a plurality of through holes formed therein through which the plurality of cables can be routed.
6 more elements
A surgical device, comprising:
- an elongate body having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal axis;
- a master assembly coupled to the proximal end of the elongate body;
- a slave assembly coupled to the distal end of the elongate body, the slave assembly including a distal elbow joint and an end effector;
- and
- a plurality of cables extending through the elongate body and configured to translate movement of the master assembly into movement of the slave assembly;
- wherein the distal elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between, pivotally coupled to, and terminating at the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- wherein the second retainer housing is configured to translate laterally with respect to the first retainer housing.
4 more elements
A surgical device, comprising:
- an end effector having proximal and distal ends;
- a distal wrist assembly coupled to the proximal end of the end effector, the distal wrist assembly having a first pivot joint about which the end effector yaws and a second pivot joint about which the end effector pitches;
- a distal elbow assembly coupled to a proximal end of the distal wrist assembly, the distal elbow assembly having a first elbow joint about which the distal wrist assembly heaves and sways;
- a master assembly coupled to the distal elbow assembly by an elongate body;
- wherein the first elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between and pivotally coupled to the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- wherein the proximal end of each of the plurality of rods is pivotally received within a corresponding recess of the first retainer housing, and the distal end of each of the plurality of rods is pivotally received within a corresponding recess of the second retainer housing.
3 more elements
A surgical device, comprising:
- an end effector having proximal and distal ends;
- a distal wrist assembly coupled to the proximal end of the end effector, the distal wrist assembly having a first pivot joint about which the end effector yaws and a second pivot joint about which the end effector pitches;
- a distal elbow assembly coupled to a proximal end of the distal wrist assembly, the distal elbow assembly having a first elbow joint about which the distal wrist assembly heaves and sways;
- a master assembly coupled to the distal elbow assembly by an elongate body;
- wherein the first elbow joint includes first and second retainer housings, a plurality of rods extending between, pivotally coupled to, and terminating at the first and second retainer housings, and a first plate disposed between the first and second retainer housings, the first plate having a plurality of openings through which the plurality of rods are respectively received;
- wherein the second retainer housing is configured to translate laterally with respect to the first retainer housing.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.