Surgical stapling instruments including a cartridge having multiple staple sizes
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical stapling apparatus includes a staple cartridge and an anvil member. The staple cartridge includes a plurality of surgical fasteners disposed in rows of retention slots. The staple cartridge may have an annular or linear configuration of retention slots. The tissue contacting surface of the staple cartridge may be tapered or stepped. The anvil member has a tissue contacting surface that includes a number of pockets arranged for substantially aligning with the retention slots. In addition, the tissue contacting surface of the anvil member may complement the tissue contacting surface of the staple cartridge.
93 Citations
31 Claims
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1-15. -15. (canceled)
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16. A staple cartridge for a surgical stapling apparatus, comprising:
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a first tissue contacting surface and a second tissue contacting surface, wherein the first tissue contacting surface and the second tissue contacting surface are not co-planar; a third surface extending generally between the first tissue contacting surface and the second tissue contacting surface, the third surface being a non-planar surface; and a plurality of first retention slots defined in the first tissue contacting surface and a plurality of second retention slots defined in the second tissue contacting surface, each retention slot configured for housing a staple therein. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. An end effector for a surgical stapling instrument comprising:
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a staple cartridge having a cross-sectional profile defined by a first surface, a second surface, and a third surface, the first surface and the second surface defining respective first and second planes, the first and second planes being substantially parallel to each other, and the third surface connecting the first and second surfaces and having a non-planar surface; an anvil arranged with the staple cartridge, the anvil and the cross-sectional profile of the staple cartridge defining a tissue compression gradient; the cartridge having a first plurality of staples associated with the first surface and a second plurality of staples associated with the second surface, the size of the first plurality of staples being selected to correspond to the first surface and the size of the second plurality of staples being selected to correspond to the second surface. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification