Appliance for storing, distributing and placing couched I-shaped surgical fasteners

• US 6,779,701 B2
• Filed: 03/03/2003
• Issued: 08/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/08/2002
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Sofradim Production
• Original Assignee: Sofradim Production
• Inventors: Evrard, Frederic, Bailly, Pierre, Therin, Michel, Benchetrit, Salomon
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Scott A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHUKWURAH, NATHANIEL C
• Application Number:
  US10/376,588
• Publication Number:
  US 20030187465A1
• Time in Patent Office: 540 Days
• Field of Search: 227/67, 227/68, 227/176.1, 227/19, 604/57, 604/60, 604/61, 604/62, 604/63, 604/64, 604/139
• US Class Current: 227/176.1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/068 Surgical staplers , e.g. containing multiple staples or clampsstaplers containing only one staple A61B17/10; magazines or containers for staples A61B17/105; for performing anastomosis A61B17/115; staplers in general B25C5/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00004 (bio)absorbable, (bio)resorbable, resorptive for implantable prostheses A61F2210/0004
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0409 Instruments for applying suture anchors for applying suture clamps, clips or locks A61B2017/0488
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/0419 H-fasteners

Abstract

This appliance comprises, in a tubular body (20), a magazine slide (22) secured to a needle (50) and the magazine slide (22) containing fasteners (A), an element for distributing the fasteners one by one, and an ejection plunger (42) able to push the anchoring bar (2) of the awaiting first fastener (A) into the needle.

According to the invention, the magazine slide (22) comprises below the needle (50) a transverse finger (59) able, as the fastener is distributed by movement of its anchoring bar (2) by the plunger (42), to have the downstream end (3a) of this catching bar bear against it to force it to pivot by raising its upstream end (3b), beside the needle (50), a downwardly projecting rib (51) able to guide the pivoting of the upstream end (3b) of the catching bar (3) so that the latter does not butt against the needle, and, on the transverse finger (59), a sloping face (59a) driving the downstream end (3a) of the catching bar (3) transversely away from this finger.

Claims

1. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing couched I-shaped surgical fasteners, comprising a handgrip body equipped with first controls and second controls on a handgrip and with an end-piece, and an elongate element, attached and fixed to the end-piece, wherein the elongate element is made up of a body of tubular overall shape, the elongate element containing:

near a free end, a magazine slide itself containing couched I-shaped fasteners each having an anchoring bar, a catching bar and a connecting strip, the slide being movable in the elongate element by a longitudinal rod actuatable by the first controls on the handgrip and secured to a split and longitudinal hollow needle able to project from the elongate element, and

wherein the tubular body includes therein a means for distributing the stored fasteners one by one, the distribution involving transferring of the anchoring bar of a first fastener into an accommodating housing arranged in an extension of the split and longitudinal hollow needle, and the tubular body further includes therein an ejection plunger movable by the second controls on the handgrip and which is arranged in line with the split and longitudinal hollow needle so as to push the anchoring bar of the first fastener thereinto, wherein the accommodating housing of the magazine slide contains, at rest, the anchoring bar of the first fastener awaiting placement, wherein the catching bar of the first fastener, arranged at the end of the magazine, is free of any thrusting force, wherein the magazine slide comprises;

below the split and longitudinal hollow needle and in a path via which the catching bar leaves the magazine, a transverse finger, wherein when the fastener is distributed by movement of the anchoring bar by means of the plunger, the transverse finger has a downstream end of the catching bar bear against the transverse finger to force the catching bar to pivot by raising an upstream end of the catching bar,

beside the split and longitudinal hollow needle, a downwardly projecting rib for guiding the pivoting and movement of the upstream end of the catching bar so that the catching bar does not butt against the split and longitudinal hollow needle,

and, on the transverse finger, a sloping face driving the downstream end of the catching bar transversely away from the transverse finger.

2. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 1, wherein at rest, the front end of the plunger is spaced away from the rear end of the split and longitudinal hollow needle to form the accommodating housing containing the anchoring bar of the first fastener.

3. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 1, wherein the catching bar of the first fastener is, in the magazine, in contact with the catching bars of other fasteners stored, and the catching bar of the last fastener is in contact, but without significant force, with an end of a buffer rod movable step by step, the buffer rod being connected to means, at the end of the movement of distributing the first fastener into tissue, and through movement of the second controls, to move it by the length of one catching bar of one fastener so that, as the magazine slide returns to a starting and rest position in the tubular body, contact between the end of the buffer rod and the catching bar of the last fastener causes the row of fasteners to move within the magazine, and causes the anchoring bar of the first fastener to be transferred into the accommodating housing.

4. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 3, wherein the buffer rod, mounted to slide in the body of the magazine slide, is connected by the end to a shaft, the shaft being:

mounted to slide on an axial rod extending between the first controls on the handgrip and the slide to which the axial rod is secured,

equipped with grooves, spaced at a spacing equal to the length of the catching bar of a fastener and each equipped with a straight front edge and a sloping rear edge,

held in a work position by notched elastic tabs projecting from a holding sleeve connected to the tubular body and the notched elastic tabs having teeth of which enter one of the grooves arranged on the front part of the grooved shaft,

connected to an arming sleeve arranged behind the holding sleeve which is mounted to slide in the tubular body against the action of return means pressing the arming sleeve against an internal flange of the tubular body, the connection between the grooved shaft and the arming sleeve being afforded by entrance of notched tabs secured to the arming sleeve in one of the grooves of the grooved shaft,

and associated with movement means including a longitudinal body actuatable by the second controls and which, at the end of the travel for the distribution and placement of a fastener, pushes the arming sleeve by the length of a catching bar so as to move the grooved shaft, causing the tabs of the holding sleeve to part until the teeth enter the next groove, and causing the buffer rod to advance by the magnitude of the catching bar of a fastener.

5. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 4, wherein the longitudinal body causing the arming sleeve to move includes a tubular end-piece surrounding the grooved shaft and projecting from a front end of a cage secured to the plunger, the cage containing the means for returning the axial rod of the slide being secured to a control piston entering the handgrip body and collaborating with the second controls.

6. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 1, wherein a rear end of the rod connected to the magazine slide rests against a lever articulated in the handgrip body and able movable by a two-finger fork of the handgrip which is articulated in the handgrip body, while the piston secured to the cage and to the plunger rests against a cam profile formed on the handgrip body.

7. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 1, wherein the magazine slide is formed of first and second plastic shells joined together along a median, longitudinal and vertical plane, the first shell secured to the split and longitudinal hollow needle having two longitudinal slots arranged near edges of the shell, one of the longitudinal slots receives the catching bars of the fasteners and the other longitudinal slot receives the anchoring bars, the slot for the catching bars opening freely at the front end of the slide while the slot for the anchoring bars opens onto an inclined plane for guidance in the direction of the split and longitudinal hollow needle, while the second shell has a longitudinal channel coaxial with the split and longitudinal hollow needle for the ejection plunger and, in the accommodating housing of the needle, a vertically inclined resting plane for the connecting strip of a fastener.

8. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 7, wherein the longitudinal channel for the ejection plunger is formed of a first slot made in the corresponding second shell and of a second slot made in a plate attached inside the second shell, the plate having a width that allows the plate to be inserted between the two longitudinal slots made in the first shell for the anchoring bars and the catching bars respectively, and a thickness allowing the plate to delimit, with the first shell, a passageway for the passage of connecting strips of the fasteners.

9. Appliance for storing, distributing and placing fasteners according to claim 1, wherein the elongate element is made up of several plastic components assembled together and arranged in a tubular metal band.