Ophthalmic cassette
First Claim
1. A microsurgical apparatus for collecting substances removed from a surgical situs by suction comprising:
- a primary container having means for selectively applying a vacuum thereto and having inlet means for communicating with said surgical situs;
a secondary container of a capacity greater than said primary container;
first passage means communicating between said primary and secondary containers for conducting substances from said primary container to said secondary container by gravity; and
first valve means responsive to the vacuum within said primary container for opening and closing said first passage means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The replaceable cassette is integrally formed with a small primary container for fast response time when aspirating, and an integrally formed, larger secondary container into which the contents of the primary container are periodically flushed. During aspiration, the secondary container is sealed from the primary container and, therefore, has no adverse effect on aspiration response time. The primary container is located above the secondary container and the two containers are connected by a standpipe through which substances are flushed by the force of gravity in emptying the contents of the primary container into the secondary container. Although the cassette will operate with microsurgical consoles having two separate vacuum sources, only one vacuum source is required.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A microsurgical apparatus for collecting substances removed from a surgical situs by suction comprising:
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a primary container having means for selectively applying a vacuum thereto and having inlet means for communicating with said surgical situs; a secondary container of a capacity greater than said primary container; first passage means communicating between said primary and secondary containers for conducting substances from said primary container to said secondary container by gravity; and first valve means responsive to the vacuum within said primary container for opening and closing said first passage means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A microsurgical apparatus for collecting substances removed from a surgical situs by suction comprising:
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a cassette integrally defining a primary container and integrally defining a secondary container of greater capacity than said primary container; a means for applying a vacuum to said primary container and an inlet means for communicating between said primary container and said surgical situs; and first passage means communicating between said primary and secondary containers having first valve means responsive to the vacuum within said primary containers; said containers being disposed such that a given quantity of substance in said primary container has a greater potential energy than the same quantity of substance has in said secondary container. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification