CLIP APPLIER WITH MIGRATIONAL RESISTANCE FEATURES

• US 20060235442A1
• Filed: 09/15/2005
• Published: 10/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 04/14/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cilag Gmbh International (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Huitema, Thomas W.
• Granted Patent: US 7,740,641 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 606/142
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/0682 for applying U-shaped staples or clamps, e.g. without a forming anvil
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/10 for applying or removing wound clamps, e.g. containing only one clamp or staple A61B17/076 takes precedence; containing multiple wound clamps A61B17/068; Wound clamp magazines containers, packaging elements or packages specially adapted for particular articles or with special means for dispensing contents B65D83/00, B65D85/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/128 for applying or removing clamps or clips
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1285 for minimally invasive surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/032 pressure limiting, e.g. hydrostatic
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 227/901 Surgical clip appliers

Abstract

A surgical clip applier and methods for applying surgical clips to a vessel, duct, shunt, etc., during a surgical procedure are provided. In one exemplary embodiment, a surgical clip applier is provided having a housing with a trigger movably coupled thereto and a shaft extending therefrom with opposed jaws formed on a distal end thereof. The trigger is adapted to advance a clip to position the clip between the jaws, and to move the jaws from an open position to a closed position to crimp the clip positioned therebetween. The surgical clip applier can include a variety of features to facilitate use of the device, including features to align a clip with the jaws, features to prevent unintentional migration of a clip, and features to prevent clip fallout during formation.

Claims

1. An improved endoscopic surgical clip applier having jaws which close together to approximate tissues to be clipped and a clip advancing assembly adapted to sequentially advance a plurality of clips into the jaws, the improvement comprising:

a portion of the clip advancing assembly including a pusher mechanism that is disposed within a clip track and movable toward the jaws to advance a plurality of clips sequentially into the jaws, the pusher mechanism being adapted to generate friction with the clip track to prevent unintentional movement of the pusher mechanism within the clip track, and being adapted to move when the clip advancing assembly is actuated to advance the pusher mechanism distally.

2. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein the pusher mechanism includes a protrusion formed thereon and in contact with the clip track to generate friction with the clip track.

3. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein the pusher mechanism includes a deflectable tang formed thereon and biased against the clip track to generate friction with the clip track.

4. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 3, wherein the deflectable tang includes a lip formed thereon and adapted to engage a corresponding ridge formed in the clip track.

5. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein the pusher mechanism has a cantilevered configuration to generate friction with the clip track.

6. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein the clip track includes a support surface with opposed side walls extending therealong, and wherein the pusher mechanism is slidably disposed between the opposed sidewalls.

7. The endoscopic surgical clip applier of claim 6, wherein the opposed sidewalls bias the pusher mechanism into a substantially V-shaped cross-section.

8. A surgical clip applier, comprising:

a housing having a trigger movably coupled thereto and a shaft extending therefrom with opposed jaws formed on a distal end thereof;

a clip track extending through the shaft and adapted to retain a plurality of clips; and

a feeder shoe slidably disposed within the clip track and adapted to advance the plurality of clips through the clip track, the feeder shoe being configured to generate friction with the clip track to resist unintentional movement of the feeder shoe.

9. The surgical clip applier of claim 8, wherein the feeder shoe includes at least one protrusion formed thereon and in contact with the clip track to generate friction with the clip track.

10. The surgical clip applier of claim 8, wherein the feeder shoe includes a deflectable tang formed thereon and biased against the clip track to generate friction with the clip track.

11. The surgical clip applier of claim 10, wherein the deflectable tang includes a lip formed thereon and adapted to engage a corresponding ridge formed in the clip track.

12. The surgical clip applier of claim 10, wherein the clip track includes at least one surface protrusion formed thereon and adapted to engage with the deflectable tang on the feeder shoe.

13. The surgical clip applier of claim 8, wherein the feeder shoe has a cantilevered configuration to generate friction with the clip track.

14. The surgical clip applier of claim 8, wherein the clip track includes a support surface with opposed side walls extending therealong, and wherein the feeder shoe is slidably disposed between the opposed sidewalls.

15. The surgical clip applier of claim 14, wherein the opposed sidewalls bias the feeder shoe into a substantially V-shaped cross-section.

16. A surgical clip applier, comprising:

a housing;

a shaft extending from the housing;

first and second jaws formed on a distal end of the shaft and adapted to receive tissue therebetween;

a clip track extending through the shaft and adapted to retain a plurality of clips; and

a clip pusher disposed within the clip track and adapted to advance the plurality of clips through the clip track and into the first and second jaws, the clip pusher being biased within the clip track such that movement of the clip pusher is prevented unless a force is applied to the clip pusher that is greater than a biasing force created between the clip pusher and the clip track.

17. The surgical clip applier of claim 16, wherein the clip pusher includes a biasing mechanism formed thereon and adapted to bias the clip pusher within the clip track.

18. The surgical clip applier of claim 17, wherein the biasing mechanism comprises a protrusion formed on the clip pusher.

19. The surgical clip applier of claim 17, wherein the biasing mechanism comprises a deflectable tang formed on the clip pusher.

20. The surgical clip applier of claim 16, wherein the clip pusher has a width that is greater than a width of the clip track such that the clip pusher is biased within the clip track.

21. The surgical clip applier of claim 16, wherein the clip track is sized to deform the clip pusher to create a biasing force between the clip track and the clip pusher.

22. The surgical clip applier of claim 16, wherein the clip pusher is deflected by the clip track from a substantially V-shaped profile into a substantially planar profile.