Surgical instrument
DCFirst Claim
1. A surgical instrument comprising:
- an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends;
a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and
a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft;
said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member;
said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member;
whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member;
wherein both of the movable members comprise a bendable motion member, each bendable motion member providing at least one degree of freedom and the bending stiffness of the second movable member is greater than the bending stiffness of the first movable member.
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Litigations
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Accused Products
Abstract
An endoscopic or laparoscopic instrument includes a distal tool, a rigid or flexible elongated shaft that supports the distal tool, and a proximal handle or control member, where the tool and the handle are coupled to the respective distal and proximal ends of the elongated shaft via bendable motion members. The tool and the tool motion member are coupled to the handle and the handle motion member via cables and a push rod in such a way that the movement of the handle with respect to the elongated shaft in any direction is replicated by the tool at the distal end of the shaft. The magnitude of the tool motion with respect to the handle motion may be scaled depending on the size of the handle motion member with respect to that of the tool motion member.
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Citations
133 Claims
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1. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein both of the movable members comprise a bendable motion member, each bendable motion member providing at least one degree of freedom and the bending stiffness of the second movable member is greater than the bending stiffness of the first movable member. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; and said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; wherein the maximum transverse cross-sectional dimension of the second movable member is different than that of the first movable member; wherein the tool movement with respect to the distal end of the elongated shaft is in the same direction of the control handle movement with respect to the proximal end of the elongated shaft. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a distal movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a proximal movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said proximal movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said distal movable member; wherein at least one of said movable members comprises a bendable motion member; wherein the maximum transverse cross-sectional dimension of the second movable member is different than that of the first movable member; further including another proximal movable member and another distal movable member for multi-modal controlled movement of the tool. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; wherein the second movable member is able to axially rotate about the control handle. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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31. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; further including a distal axial rotation joint for axially rotating the first movable member about the elongated shaft. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; further including a distal axial rotation joint for axially rotating the tool about the first movable member. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50)
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51. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; further including distal and proximal axial rotation joints wherein the proximal axial rotation joint actuates the distal axial rotation joint. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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60. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a first movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a second movable member; whereby movement of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said second movable member causes attendant movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said first movable member; wherein at least one of said first and second members comprises a bendable motion member; further including a motion member locking mechanism for releasably locking said movable members; said motion member locking mechanism comprising a locking mechanism for impeding cable means that extend between said movable members. - View Dependent Claims (61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75)
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76. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; and a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; said tool being coupled to the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a movable member; said control handle coupled to the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft via a torque sensing member; an electromechanical actuator coupled to said movable member; wherein torque applied at said torque sensing member by the operator produces a proportional movement of said actuator, which in turn produces a movement of said tool with respect to said elongated instrument shaft via said movable member. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83)
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84. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal bendable member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal bendable member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; and actuation means extending between said distal and proximal bendable members whereby any deflection of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft causes a corresponding bending of said distal bendable member for control of said tool; wherein at least one of said bendable members comprise a single unitary slotted structure that is readily capable of bending in any direction; wherein said slotted structure is comprised of a plurality of separately disposed non-contiguous slots. - View Dependent Claims (85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95)
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96. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal motion member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal motion member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; and actuation means extending between said distal and proximal motion members for coupling motion of said proximal motion member to said distal motion member for controlling the positioning of said tool; at least one of said proximal and distal motion members comprising both a bendable section and a pivot section. - View Dependent Claims (97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103)
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104. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal bendable member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal bendable member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; actuation means extending between said distal and proximal bendable members for coupling motion of said proximal bendable member to said distal bendable member for controlling the positioning of said tool; a distal axial rotation joint at the tool end of the instrument; and a proximal axial rotation joint; said distal axial rotation joint responsive to said proximal axial rotation joint so that rotation of said proximal axial rotation joint causes a corresponding rotation of said distal axial rotation joint. - View Dependent Claims (105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110)
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111. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal bendable member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal bendable member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; and actuation means extending between said distal and proximal bendable members for coupling motion of said proximal bendable member to said distal bendable member for controlling the positioning of said tool; said proximal bendable member having a diameter that is different than the diameter of said distal bendable member. - View Dependent Claims (112, 113, 114, 115, 116)
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117. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal bendable member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal bendable member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; and actuation means extending between said distal and proximal bendable members for coupling motion of said proximal bendable member to said distal bendable member for controlling the positioning of said tool; wherein the instrument shaft is flexible for passage intraluminally; further including a distal axial rotation joint for axially rotating at least one of the distal bendable member and tool relative to the instrument shaft. - View Dependent Claims (118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123)
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124. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal motion member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal motion member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; actuation means extending between said distal and proximal motion members for coupling motion of said proximal motion member to said distal motion member for controlling the positioning of said tool; and a capstan and cable arrangement connected between said handle and tool and including a pair of handles for control of a corresponding pair of tool jaws; wherein said actuation means comprises cabling extending between and off-center of said motion members. - View Dependent Claims (125, 126, 127, 128)
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129. A surgical instrument comprising:
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an elongated instrument shaft having proximal and distal ends; a tool disposed from the distal end of the instrument shaft; a control handle disposed from the proximal end of the instrument shaft; a distal motion member for coupling the distal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said tool; a proximal motion member for coupling the proximal end of said elongated instrument shaft to said handle; actuation means extending between said distal and proximal motion members for coupling motion of said proximal motion member to said distal motion member for controlling the positioning of said tool; and wherein said proximal motion member comprises a bendable member and said distal motion member comprises a pivotal joint. - View Dependent Claims (130, 131, 132, 133)
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Specification