TISSUE THICKNESS COMPENSATOR COMPRISING CAPSULES DEFINING A LOW PRESSURE ENVIRONMENT
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tissue thickness compensator can comprise a compensator body and at least one vessel contained in the compensator body. The vessel can define an inner cavity which can comprise an inner atmosphere having a pressure which is lower than the atmospheric pressure of the atmosphere surrounding the tissue thickness compensator. In at least one embodiment, the vessel and the compensator body can be maintained in a collapsed state until staples are fired through the vessel. At such point, the vessel can re-expand and apply a biasing force to tissue captured within the staples.
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Citations
43 Claims
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1-19. -19. (canceled)
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20. A staple cartridge, comprising:
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a cartridge body, wherein a plurality of staple cavities are defined in the cartridge body; a plurality of staples removably positioned in the staple cavities; and a compressible layer releasably positioned adjacent to the cartridge body, wherein the compressible layer comprises a plurality of compression springs. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A staple cartridge, comprising:
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a cartridge body, wherein a plurality of staple cavities are defined in the cartridge body; a plurality of staples removably positioned in the staple cavities; and a tissue thickness compensator comprising a plurality of fibers, wherein the tissue thickness compensator is deformable from an uncompressed height to at least one compressed height, and wherein at least one of the fibers is configured to generate a restoring force when the tissue thickness compensator is deformed to the at least one compressed height. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. A staple cartridge, comprising:
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a cartridge body, wherein a plurality of staple cavities are defined in the cartridge body; a plurality of staples removably positioned in the staple cavities; and a compressible layer, comprising; a first layer; a second layer; and a plurality of fibers intermediate the first layer and the second layer, wherein each of the fibers comprises means for generating a springback force when compressed. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A surgical end effector, comprising:
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a staple cartridge; an anvil; and a compressible layer intermediate the staple cartridge and the anvil, wherein the compressible layer comprises a plurality of spring-like fibers. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43)
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Specification