Surgical stapler apparatus with improved tissue shield
First Claim
1. In an improved surgical stapler for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising a handle, a gripping lever, a frame with a U-shaped distal portion, an anvil assembly mounted at the distal leg of the U-shaped distal portion, a fastener holder pivotally connected to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them and containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and optionally including a knife means for cutting body tissue, the stapler mechanism further including a fastener driving means for substantially simultaneously driving all of the fasteners from the fastener holder, and means for actuating the fastener holder, the improvement comprising:
- shield assembly means mounted on the sides of the anvil assembly for preventing extraneous body tissue from being operated upon the surgical stapler, said shield assembly means comprising a wedge member for separating the extraneous tissue from the body tissue to be fastened and two shutter blades acting in cooperation with the wedge member for deflecting the extraneous tissue from entering the gap between the anvil assembly and the fastener holder.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An improved surgical stapler for simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue, incorporating a flexible and resilient shield assembly comprising a substantially U-shaped wedge member mounted to and around the end of the anvil assembly, for separating extraneous body tissue from tissue to be fastened, and two shutter blades mounted on the sides of the wedge member for preventing extraneous body tissue from entering into the gap between the anvil assembly and fastener holder.
118 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In an improved surgical stapler for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising a handle, a gripping lever, a frame with a U-shaped distal portion, an anvil assembly mounted at the distal leg of the U-shaped distal portion, a fastener holder pivotally connected to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them and containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and optionally including a knife means for cutting body tissue, the stapler mechanism further including a fastener driving means for substantially simultaneously driving all of the fasteners from the fastener holder, and means for actuating the fastener holder, the improvement comprising:
shield assembly means mounted on the sides of the anvil assembly for preventing extraneous body tissue from being operated upon the surgical stapler, said shield assembly means comprising a wedge member for separating the extraneous tissue from the body tissue to be fastened and two shutter blades acting in cooperation with the wedge member for deflecting the extraneous tissue from entering the gap between the anvil assembly and the fastener holder. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. In an improved surgical stapler for substantially simultaneously applying a plurality of surgical fasteners to body tissue comprising a handle, a gripping lever, a frame with a U-shaped distal portion, an anvil assembly mounted at the distal leg of the U-shaped distal portion, a fastener holder pivotally connected to the anvil assembly adjacent one end of the anvil assembly thereby defining a gap between them and containing a plurality of surgical fasteners and including a knife means for cutting body tissue, the stapler mechanism further including a fastener driving means for substantially simultaneously driving all of the fasteners from the fastener holder, and means for actuating the fastener holder, the improvement comprising:
shield assembly means mounted on the sides of the anvil assembly for preventing extraneous body tissue from being operated upon the surgical stapler, said shield assembly means comprising a wedge member for separating the extraneous tissue from the body tissue to be fastened and two shutter blades acting in cooperation with the wedge member for deflecting the extraneous tissue from entering the gap between the anvil assembly and the fastener holder. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification