Electro-cauterizing dissector and method for facilitating breast implant procedure
First Claim
1. An instrument for dissecting and cauterizing in an interior of a body comprising:
- an elongate probe member extending along a longitudinal axis;
an inflatable structure having an inflation chamber and carried around a distal portion of said probe member and in a contracted state having a diameter about equal to the diameter of said probe member and in an expanded state having a greater transverse dimension than that of said contracted state;
an inflation mechanism operatively connected to said inflation chamber thereby to inflate and deflate said inflatable structure between said contracted state and said expanded state; and
an electro-cautery grid comprising a plurality of electrodes carried around an exterior of said inflatable structure, said electrodes operatively connected to an electrical source, said electro-cautery grid being adapted for cauterizing dissected blood vessels;
wherein in said contracted state said electrodes are in an at least partly radial pattern, so that in said expanded state, said at least partly radial pattern is expanded by said inflatable structure to a straightened longitudinal pattern.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inflatable dissector and method for bluntly dissecting and electro-cauterizing a plane between the anterior chest wall and the overlying pectoralis major muscle to facilitate a breast implant procedure. The instrument includes an elongate blunt-tipped probe member and carries a distal expandable sleeve with an electrode grid on its surface. The blunt tip of the guide is advanced distally along a plane in the interior of the body thereby creating a small diameter dissected track. The distal inflatable sleeve is expanded to dissect the plane and an electrical current is introduced into the electrode grid to cauterize around the surface of the dissected space. A dual-port cannula assembly and an electro-cauterizing "inside-out" trocar are provided to safely make an additional incision under endoscopic vision from the inside of the dissected plane to the outside of the body from a single skin incision.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. An instrument for dissecting and cauterizing in an interior of a body comprising:
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an elongate probe member extending along a longitudinal axis; an inflatable structure having an inflation chamber and carried around a distal portion of said probe member and in a contracted state having a diameter about equal to the diameter of said probe member and in an expanded state having a greater transverse dimension than that of said contracted state; an inflation mechanism operatively connected to said inflation chamber thereby to inflate and deflate said inflatable structure between said contracted state and said expanded state; and an electro-cautery grid comprising a plurality of electrodes carried around an exterior of said inflatable structure, said electrodes operatively connected to an electrical source, said electro-cautery grid being adapted for cauterizing dissected blood vessels; wherein in said contracted state said electrodes are in an at least partly radial pattern, so that in said expanded state, said at least partly radial pattern is expanded by said inflatable structure to a straightened longitudinal pattern. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for dissecting connective tissues, comprising the steps of:
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introducing a distal blunt tip of an elongate probe into a plane in the interior of the body in a first location; advancing said blunt tip distally along said plane to a second remote location thereby creating a small diameter dissected track; expanding an inflatable structure at said blunt tip thereby further bluntly dissecting connective tissues along said plane in said second location; and passing an electrical current into an electrode grid on a surface of said inflatable structure, thereby cauterizing dissected blood vessels around said inflatable structure in said second location. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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Specification