Laparoscopic surgical instrument
First Claim
1. A laparoscopic surgical instrument comprising:
- a tube for introduction into the body through an aperture in the body cavity wall;
a housing at the end of the tube;
a pair of jaws extending distally from the housing, at least one of the jaws being pivotally mounted on the housing to allow pivotal opening and closing movements with respect to the other jaw about a transverse pivot axis;
an elongate control member extending inside the tube and reciprocable longitudinally with respect to the tube and the housing, andan actuator at a distal end of the control member and reciprocable therewith;
wherein the actuator has a guide track, and the at least one pivotally mounted jaw has a guide track follower spaced from the pivot axis and engaging the guide track, and wherein the guide track is so oriented that longitudinal reciprocating movement of the actuator is converted into pivotal movement of the said at least one jaw about the pivot axis; and
wherein each jaw has an electrically conductive portion coupled to a respective electrical supply conductor at least one conductor of which is located in the tube, and wherein the actuator is formed of an electrically insulative material.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A laparoscopic surgical instrument which may be in the form of forceps or a cutter has, at the end of a hollow tube for introduction through the body cavity wall, a housing, a pair of pivotally mounted metallic jaws, a reciprocable control rod in the tube, and an actuator secured to the control rod. The actuator has a pair of guide grooves which are oppositely inclined with respect to a longitudinal axis of the instrument, and each jaw has a lug which fits in a respective groove, the lugs being spaced from the jaw pivots so that reciprocation of the control rod causes opening and closing of the jaws. The housing and the actuator are electrically insulating and the jaw pivots are spaced apart to achieve electrical isolation of one jaw from the other, for applying a radio frequency voltage across the jaws for bipolar electrosurgery.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A laparoscopic surgical instrument comprising:
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a tube for introduction into the body through an aperture in the body cavity wall; a housing at the end of the tube; a pair of jaws extending distally from the housing, at least one of the jaws being pivotally mounted on the housing to allow pivotal opening and closing movements with respect to the other jaw about a transverse pivot axis; an elongate control member extending inside the tube and reciprocable longitudinally with respect to the tube and the housing, and an actuator at a distal end of the control member and reciprocable therewith; wherein the actuator has a guide track, and the at least one pivotally mounted jaw has a guide track follower spaced from the pivot axis and engaging the guide track, and wherein the guide track is so oriented that longitudinal reciprocating movement of the actuator is converted into pivotal movement of the said at least one jaw about the pivot axis; and wherein each jaw has an electrically conductive portion coupled to a respective electrical supply conductor at least one conductor of which is located in the tube, and wherein the actuator is formed of an electrically insulative material. - View Dependent Claims (2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 20)
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3. A laparoscopic surgical instrument comprising:
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a tube for introduction into the body through an aperture in the body cavity wall; a housing at the end of the tube; a pair of jaws extending distally from the housing, at least one of the jaws being pivotally mounted on the housing to allow pivotal opening and closing movements with respect to the other jaw about a transverse pivot axis; an elongate control member extending inside the tube and reciprocable longitudinally with respect to the tube and the housing, and an actuator at a distal end of the control member and reciprocable therewith; wherein the actuator has a guide track, and the at least one pivotally mounted jaw has a guide track follower spaced from the pivot axis and engaging the guide track, and wherein the guide track is so oriented that longitudinal reciprocating movement of the actuator is converted into pivotal movement of the said at least one jaw about the pivot axis; and wherein both jaws are pivotably mounted on the housing about respective spaced apart transverse pivot axes. - View Dependent Claims (4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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21. A laparoscopic surgical instrument comprising a tube for introduction into the body through an aperture in a body cavity wall,
a housing at the end of the tube, pair of jaws extending distally from the housing, at least one of the jaws being pivotally mounted on the housing to allow opening and closing movements with respect to the other jaw, a control member reciprocable in the tube, and an actuator at the end of the control member, which actuator has a movement converter part located within an opening between the jaws and distally of the pivotal mounting of the at least one pivotally mounted jaw on the housing, and is operable to convert reciprocating movement of the control member into a pivoting movement of the jaw.
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26. A laparoscopic electrosurgical instrument comprising:
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a tube for introduction into the body through an aperture in the body cavity wall; a housing at the end of the tube; a pair of jaws extending distally from the housing, each jaw having an electrically conductive portion, and at least one of the jaws being pivotally mounted on the housing to allow pivotal opening and closing movements with respect to the other jaw about a transverse pivot axis; an elongate control member extending inside the tube and reciprocable longitudinally with respect to the tube; actuator means coupled to a distal end of the control member and to the said at least one jaw for converting longitudinal reciprocating movement of the control member into pivotal movement of the said at least one jaw about the pivot axis; means for electrically insulating one jaw from the other; and electrical supply conductors respectively coupled to the electrically conductive portion of the jaws, at least one of the conductors being located inside the tube; wherein each of the jaws has an inner surface which, when the jaws are in a closed position, engages the inner surface of the other jaw., and wherein each inner surface is formed by conductive surface parts of the conductive portion of the respective jaw and by at least one intervening insulative surface part, the arrangement of the conductive and insulative parts on the two jaws being such that in the closed position of the jaws, the conductive surface parts of one jaw are adjacent, but do not touch, the conductive surface parts of the other jaw. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28)
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Specification