Surgical irrigation apparatus and methods for use
DCFirst Claim
1. A surgical irrigation apparatus, comprising:
- a disposable assembly, including an irrigation fluid pump and a handpiece having a supply passage for delivering irrigation fluid to a surgical site, said handpiece including a first manually actuatable valve disposed in said supply passage;
a re-useable assembly, including a motor and a power source;
a fluid flow detector for detecting a flow of irrigation fluid through said pump in response to the opening of the valve;
a controller for turning on said motor in response to detection of fluid flow by said fluid flow detector; and
a power transfer and isolation coupling for transferring mechanical power from said motor to said pump and for isolating said irrigation fluid flowing through said pump from contact with said re-usable assembly.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A surgical irrigation apparatus includes a disposable assembly and a reusable assembly. The disposable assembly includes an irrigation fluid pump and a handpiece having a supply passage for delivery of irrigation fluid to the surgical site. The re-usable assembly includes a motor and a power source. The power is transferred from the motor to the pump with a magnetic coupler or other suitable device. The re-usable assembly is isolated from irrigation fluid in the disposable assembly. All of the electrical components of the apparatus are contained in the re-usable assembly. There are no electrical components in the disposable assembly. A sterile disposable assembly may be assembled in the operating room with an unsterilized re-usable assembly.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A surgical irrigation apparatus, comprising:
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a disposable assembly, including an irrigation fluid pump and a handpiece having a supply passage for delivering irrigation fluid to a surgical site, said handpiece including a first manually actuatable valve disposed in said supply passage; a re-useable assembly, including a motor and a power source; a fluid flow detector for detecting a flow of irrigation fluid through said pump in response to the opening of the valve; a controller for turning on said motor in response to detection of fluid flow by said fluid flow detector; and a power transfer and isolation coupling for transferring mechanical power from said motor to said pump and for isolating said irrigation fluid flowing through said pump from contact with said re-usable assembly. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A surgical irrigation apparatus, comprising:
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a pump, including a suction inlet for connection to an irrigation fluid source, a discharge outlet, and a flow passage communicating said inlet and outlet; a motor operatively connected to said pump; a handpiece having a supply passage for delivering the irrigation fluid to a surgical site, said handpiece including a manually actuatable valve disposed in said supply passage; a conduit connecting said discharge outlet of said pump to said supply passage of said handpiece; a flow detector for generating a flow indication signal in response to flow of the irrigation fluid through said pump when said valve is initially opened; and a controller, operatively connected to said flow detector, for generating a control signal to turn on said motor and activate said pump in response to said flow indication signal. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A method of supplying irrigation fluid to a surgical site during a surgical procedure, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a sterile disposable assembly including an irrigation fluid pump; (b) providing a re-usable assembly including a motor; (c) connecting the re-usable assembly to the sterile disposable assembly; (d) transferring power from the motor to the pump and thereby pumping irrigation fluid to the surgical site; (e) during step (d), isolating irrigation fluid flowing through the pump to the surgical site from contact with the re-usable assembly; and
whereinsaid step (a) is further characterized in that the disposable assembly includes a handpiece having a supply passage for directing irrigation fluid to the surgical site; and
includes a valve controlling flow through the supply passage; andsaid method further includes the steps of; opening the valve; initially flowing irrigation fluid through the pump and the supply passage by gravity induced flow; detecting the flow of irrigation fluids through the pump; and turning on the motor and the pump in response to said detecting step. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of actuating a surgical irrigation system, said method comprising of the steps of:
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(a) manually opening an irrigation fluid supply valve in a handpiece; (b) after step (a), initially flowing irrigation fluid by gravity flow from a fluid source through an unactivated pump; (c) during step (b) sensing said gravity flow of irrigation fluid; (d) in response to step (c), turning on a motor connected to the pump; (e) thereby powering the pump and pumping pressurized irrigation fluid to the handpiece. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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27. The method of 26, wherein
said step (d) occurs within 0.1 second after said step (a).
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30. A surgical irrigation apparatus, comprising:
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a disposable assembly, including an irrigation pump and a handpiece having a supply passage for delivering irrigation fluid to a surgical site; a reusable assembly, including a motor and power source; a power transfer and isolation coupling for transferring mechanical power from said motor to said pump and for isolating said irrigation fluid flowing through said pump from contact with said reusable assembly; and a power supply indication system including; a display for displaying an indicia representative of a remaining number of units of power in said power source, each unit corresponding to a quantity of power required to conduct one typical surgical procedure with said disposable assembly; a sensor for sensing when said disposable assembly has completed a surgical procedure; and a decrementing system for reducing said indicia of said display in response to said sensor.
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31. A method of supplying irrigation fluid to a surgical site during a surgical procedure, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) providing a sterile disposable assembly including an irrigation fluid pump; (b) providing a reusable assembly including a motor; (c) connecting the reusable assembly to the sterile disposable assembly; (d) transferring power from the motor to the pump by transferring magnetic force from a first magnet attached to said motor to a second magnet attached to said pump, and thereby pumping irrigation fluid to the surgical site; and (e) during step (d), isolating irrigation fluid flowing through the pump to the surgical site from contact with the reusable assembly by providing an impermeable wall separating said first and second magnets.
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Specification