Surgical instruments
First Claim
1. A surgical instrument comprising a handle shaped to enable it to be freely rotated by the user'"'"'s fingers about its longitudinal axis in the hand of the user, and held by the user at any angle of rotation about its longitudinal axis;
- the handle having an elongate shaft extending therefrom and a surgical tool mounted on the shaft at a location remote from the handle;
the handle being provided with an actuator operably linked to the surgical tool, the actuator being mechanically linked to an actuating rod disposed slidably within the elongate shaft, which rod is in turn linked to the surgical tool on the end of the shaft, the actuating rod having a camming edge or surface associated therewith;
the actuator having an actuator surface or surfaces extending around substantially the entire circumference of the handle and comprising a plurality of radially displaceable actuator elements disposed around the circumference of the handle, each actuator element being provided with a wedging member;
the actuator being operable by applying pressure at substantially any circumferential location on the actuator surface or surfaces to urge a said actuator element radially inwardly such that the wedging member of the said actuator element cams against the camming edge or surface associated with the actuating rod to displace the camming edge or surface in a longitudinal direction thereby converting radially inward movement of the actuator element into longitudinal movement of the actuating rod within the elongate shaft so as to actuate the surgical tool.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides a surgical instrument comprising a handle (1) shaped to enable it to be freely rotated by the user'"'"'s fingers about its longitudinally axis in the hand of the user, and held by the user at any angle of rotation about its longitudinal axis; the handle (1) having an elongate shaft (2) extending therefrom and a surgical tool (3) mounted on the shaft (2) at a location remote from the handle (1); the handle (1) being provided with actuato means (20, 15, 29) operatively linked through the shaft (2) to the surgical tool (3); the actuator means having an actuator surface (17, 31) or surfaces extending around substantially the entire circumference of the handle (1), whereby the actuator means is operable by applying pressure at substantially any circumferential location on the actuator surface (17, 31) or surfaces, to actuate the surgical tool (3). The surgical instrument is designed particularly to be held in a pen-like grip, rather than in the palm of the hand or in a scissors grip as is conventional, and is desined to be actuated from any rotated position.
99 Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A surgical instrument comprising a handle shaped to enable it to be freely rotated by the user'"'"'s fingers about its longitudinal axis in the hand of the user, and held by the user at any angle of rotation about its longitudinal axis;
- the handle having an elongate shaft extending therefrom and a surgical tool mounted on the shaft at a location remote from the handle;
the handle being provided with an actuator operably linked to the surgical tool, the actuator being mechanically linked to an actuating rod disposed slidably within the elongate shaft, which rod is in turn linked to the surgical tool on the end of the shaft, the actuating rod having a camming edge or surface associated therewith;
the actuator having an actuator surface or surfaces extending around substantially the entire circumference of the handle and comprising a plurality of radially displaceable actuator elements disposed around the circumference of the handle, each actuator element being provided with a wedging member;
the actuator being operable by applying pressure at substantially any circumferential location on the actuator surface or surfaces to urge a said actuator element radially inwardly such that the wedging member of the said actuator element cams against the camming edge or surface associated with the actuating rod to displace the camming edge or surface in a longitudinal direction thereby converting radially inward movement of the actuator element into longitudinal movement of the actuating rod within the elongate shaft so as to actuate the surgical tool. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- the handle having an elongate shaft extending therefrom and a surgical tool mounted on the shaft at a location remote from the handle;
-
20. A surgical instrument comprising a handle shaped to enable it to be freely rotated by the user'"'"'s fingers about its longitudinal axis in the hand of the user, and held by the user at any angle of rotation about its longitudinal axis;
- the handle having an elongate shaft extending therefrom and a surgical tool mounted on the shaft at a location remote from the handle;
the handle being provided with a first actuator means operably linked to the surgical tool for effecting movement of the surgical tool from a rest position to an actuated position, the first actuator means being mechanically linked to an actuating rod disposed slidably within the elongate shaft, which rod is in turn linked to the surgical tool on the end of the shaft;
the actuator means having an actuator surface or surfaces extending around substantially the entire circumference of the handle and comprising a plurality of radially displaceable actuator elements disposed around the circumference of the handle, whereby the first actuator means is operable by applying pressure at substantially any circumferential location on the actuator surface or surfaces to actuate the surgical tool, means being provided for converting radial inward movement of an actuator element into longitudinal movement of the actuating rod within the elongate shaft;
the means for converting radial inward movement of the actuator element into longitudinal movement of the actuating rod comprising an edge or surface of the actuator element which functions as a cam follower or camming surface, for engaging and camming against a complimentary camming surface or cam follower associated with the actuating rod;
the handle being further provided with locking means for locking the surgical tool in the actuated position, and second actuator means operable to release the locking means to enable the surgical tool to return to the rest position, the second actuator means being actuable from substantially any position around the handle. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
- the handle having an elongate shaft extending therefrom and a surgical tool mounted on the shaft at a location remote from the handle;
Specification