Fiber-optic illuminated microsurgical scissors

• US 4,499,899 A
• Filed: 06/30/1983
• Issued: 02/19/1985
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/1983
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nelson Tool & Machine Company, Inc.
• Original Assignee: SSI Divestiture, Inc. (Stryker Corporation)
• Inventors: Lyons, William G. III
• Primary Examiner(s): Thaler, Michael H.
• Application Number:
  US06/509,780
• Time in Patent Office: 600 Days
• Field of Search: 128/305, 128/305.1, 128/318, 128/312, 128/321, 128/319, 128/320, 128/309, 128/303.15, 128/6, 128/303 A, 30/240, 30/189
• US Class Current: 606/170
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1608 the two jaw elements being linked to two elongated shaft elements moving longitudinally relative to each other
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/320016 Endoscopic cutting instruments, e.g. arthroscopes, resectoscopes A61B10/0233, A61B17/29, A61B17/3207 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/3201 Scissors for biopsy A61B10/02
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/2903 transferring rotary motion
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/292 connection of actuating rod to handle, e.g. ball end in recess
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/306 using optical fibres

Abstract

A rotary cutting scissors for microsurgery is disclosed. The rotary scissors instrument comprises a pair of scissor blades mounted on an end of a shaft assembly for snipping away soft tissue during surgery wherein the other end of the shaft assembly is mounted within a spring-loaded rongeur handle that is adapted to be comfortably grasped by the cupped hand of a user. When the handle is squeezed, a helical drive mechanism housed in an upper portion of the handle is actuated to rotate one of the scissor blades against the other so as to cause the desired snipping action.

The instrument further comprises an internal fiber-optic light source that emits a bright light near the scissor blades during surgery to illuminate the area being operated on so that the surgeon can see precisely what he is dealing with and thereby avoid mistakes. This light constantly illuminates the line of cut by moving in tandem with the instrument during surgery.

Claims

1. A rotary cutting scissors for surgery, said scissors comprising:

(a) a pair of scissor blades mounted on an end of a shaft assembly for snipping away tissue during the surgery;

(b) said shaft assembly having an outer tube and a concentric inner rod telescopically mounted therein, wherein one of the tube and rod members is held stationary while the other is mounted for rotation relative to the stationary member without axial movement relative thereto, and one of the scissor blades is mounted in a fixed, angularly offset position on an end of the inner rod while the other blade is fixedly mounted in an opposed, angularly offset position on an adjacent end of the outer tube;

(c) said shaft assembly having an opposite end mounted within a longitudinally-extending bore of a spring-loaded rongeur handle that is adapted to be grasped by the cupped hand of a user, said handle having a generally F-shaped rear body wherein the upper, substantially horizontal stem of the "F" contains the bore and the lower stem has a front trigger pivotally attached to it, said trigger having a finger that extends through a longitudinally-extending slot in the upper portion and into the bore where the finger moves relative to the bore as the trigger is squeezed and released by the user;

(d) a helical drive means housed in the bore of the rear body to rotate said rotatable one of the tube and rod members relative to said stationary one of the members and thereby cause the scissor blade fixed on said rotatable member to rotate against the other scissor blade fixed on said stationary member, while the two members remain substantially axially stationary relative to each other, so that a cutting surface on one of the blades mates with a complementary cutting surface on the other blade to produce a snipping action, said drive means including a gear fixedly attached to said rotatable one of the tube and rod members wherein the gear includes a helical groove on its periphery that engages the finger of the trigger so that the groove cooperates with the finger, as the trigger is being squeezed and released, and the finger moves in the slot to rotate the blades relative to one another, and wherein the entire drive means housed in said bore, except for the finger, remains axially stationary relative to the members while the blades are being rotated;

(e) means for emitting a fiber-optic light near the scissor blades during surgery to brightly illuminate the line of cut produced by the blades, wherein the lighting means moves in tandem with the longitudinal axis of the shaft assembly to constantly illuminate the line of cut during shifting of the axis in the surgery; and

,

(f) wherein the inner rod is hollow with a longitudinal through bore and the lighting means comprises a fiber-optic bundle that substantially fills the bore and is secured to both ends of it.

2. The rotary cutting scissors of claim 1 wherein the opposite end of the inner rod from its scissor blade end is journaled for rotation inside a through bore of a fiber-optic fitting that is fixedly attached to the rear body, said fitting having one end extending into the bore of the upper portion of the handle and an opposite end extending from the upper portion in a cantilevered manner where it is adapted to be attached to a fiber-optic light source for transmitting fiber-optic light through the bundle and out the scissor blade end of the inner rod.

3. A rotary cutting scissors for surgery, said scissors comprising:

(a) a pair of scissor blades mounted on an end of a shaft assembly for snipping away tissue during the surgery;

(b) said shaft assembly having an outer tube and a concentric inner rod telescopically mounted for rotation therein while remaining axially stationary relative to the outer tube, wherein one of the scissor blades is mounted in a fixed, angularly offset position on an end of the inner rod while the other blade is fixedly mounted in an opposed, angularly offset position on an adjacent end of the outer tube;

(c) said shaft assembly and said outer tube and said inner rod each having an opposite end mounted within a longitudinally-extending bore of a spring-loaded rongeur handle that is adapted to be grasped by the cupped hand of a user, said handle having a rear body with an upper portion that contains the bore and the front trigger pivotally attached to the rear body, wherein the trigger has a finger that extends through a longitudinally-extending slot in the upper portion and into the bore where the finger moves relative to the bore as the trigger is squeezed and released by the user;

(d) wherein said outer tube is fixed relative to the handle;

(e) a helical drive means housed in the bore of the rear body to rotate the inner rod relative to the outer tube and cause the scissor blade attached to the inner rod to rotate against the other scissor blade attached to the fixed outer tube, while the inner rod and outer tube remain substantially axially stationary relative to each other, so that a cutting surface on one of the blades mates with a complementary cutting surface on the other blade to produce a snipping action, said drive means including a gear fixedly attached to the inner rod wherein the gear includes a helical groove on its periphery that engages the finger of the trigger so that the groove cooperates with the finger, as the trigger is being squeezed and released, and the finger moves in the slot to rotate the inner rod and thereby rotate its attached scissor blade relative to the scissor blade of the outer tube, and wherein the entire the drive means housed is said bore, except for the finger, remains axially stationary relative to the members while the blades are being rotated;

(f) means for emitting a fiber-optic light near the scissor blades during surgery to brightly illuminate the line of cut produced by the blades, wherein the lighting means moves in tandem with the longitudinal axis of the shaft assembly to constantly illuminate the line of cut during shifting of the axis in the surgery; and

,

(g) wherein the inner rod is hollow with a central through bore and the lighting means comprises a fiber-optic bundle that substantially fills the bore and is secured to both ends of it.

4. The rotary cutting scissors of claim 3 wherein the opposite end of the inner rod from its scissor blade end is journaled for rotation inside a through bore of a fiber-optic fitting that is fixedly attached to the rear body, said fitting having one end extending into the bore of the upper portion of the handle and an opposite end extending from the upper portion in a cantilevered manner where it is adapted to be attached to a fiber-optic light source for transmitting fiber-optic light through the bundle and out the scissor blade end of the inner rod.