Surgical instrument
First Claim
1. A medical instrument comprising:
- a handle;
a distal work member;
a proximal movable member controlled from said handle;
a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal work member;
an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members;
and actuation means coupled between said movable members;
said handle having a ball end with an outer at least partially spherical surface;
said proximal movable member comprising a movable ring assembly supported about the ball end of said handle and adapted for multi-directional motion relative to the ball end of said handle;
said movable ring assembly including an annular rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball end;
said annular rider constructed and arranged for the multi-directional motion over the outer spherical surface of the ball end to, in turn, control multi-directional motion of said distal movable member;
wherein said actuation means comprises a set of cables, each having proximal and distal cable ends that couple between said movable members and further including a rotation knob coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider and a cable retainer supported by said rotation knob and for retaining proximal ends of said cables.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The surgical 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 distal and proximal bendable motion members. Actuation means extends between said distal and proximal members whereby any deflection of said control handle with respect to said elongated instrument shaft causes a corresponding bending of said distal motion member for control of said working member. The proximal movable member comprises a movable ring assembly supported from the handle and adapted for three dimensional motion relative to the handle. A manually rotatable member may be arranged adjacent to the control handle for manually rotating the instrument shaft and working member relative to the control handle. A locking member may be supported from the control handle. The locking member is manually operable by a user and includes a follower the position of which is responsive to the position of the movable members.
1401 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A medical instrument comprising:
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a handle; a distal work member; a proximal movable member controlled from said handle; a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal work member; an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members; and actuation means coupled between said movable members; said handle having a ball end with an outer at least partially spherical surface; said proximal movable member comprising a movable ring assembly supported about the ball end of said handle and adapted for multi-directional motion relative to the ball end of said handle; said movable ring assembly including an annular rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball end; said annular rider constructed and arranged for the multi-directional motion over the outer spherical surface of the ball end to, in turn, control multi-directional motion of said distal movable member; wherein said actuation means comprises a set of cables, each having proximal and distal cable ends that couple between said movable members and further including a rotation knob coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider and a cable retainer supported by said rotation knob and for retaining proximal ends of said cables. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A medical instrument comprising:
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a handle; a distal work member; a proximal movable member controlled from said handle; a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal work member; an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members; actuation means coupled between said movable members; said handle having a ball end with an outer at least partially spherical surface; said proximal movable member comprising a movable ring assembly supported about the ball end of said handle and adapted for multi-directional motion relative to the ball end of said handle; said movable ring assembly including an annular rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball end; said annular rider constructed and arranged for the multi-directional motion over the outer spherical surface of the ball end to, in turn, control multi-directional motion of said distal movable member; wherein said movable ring assembly includes a rotation control member for controlling said distal work member to rotate about a distal work member axis; wherein said rotation control member comprises an annular rotation knob that is coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider; and a bearing means between the annular rotation knob and the rider and a locking lever mounted on the rider, having locked and unlocked states and for engagement with the ball end in the locked state. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A medical instrument comprising:
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a handle; a distal tool; a proximal movable member controlled from said handle; a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal tool; an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members; and actuation means coupled between said movable members and including at least a first cable set disposed between the proximal and distal movable members so that any movement of the proximal movable member causes a corresponding movement of the distal movable member; a ball means supported by one of the instrument shaft and handle; said ball means having an outer at least partially spherical surface; an annular rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball means; said annular rider constructed and arranged for motion over the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball member based on relative motion therebetween; and a locking member associated with the ball means for fixing the position of the rider on the ball means to thereby freeze the relative position between the proximal and distal movable members; wherein said first cable set has proximal and distal cable ends that couple between said movable members and further including a rotation knob coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider and a cable retainer supported by said rotation knob and for retaining proximal ends of said cables. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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21. A medical instrument comprising:
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a handle; a distal tool; a proximal movable member controlled from said handle; a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal tool; an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members; and actuation means coupled between said movable members and including at least a first cable set disposed between the proximal and distal movable members so that any movement of the proximal movable member causes a corresponding movement of the distal movable member; a ball means supported by one of the instrument shaft and handle; said ball means having an outer at least partially spherical surface; an annular rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball means; said annular rider constructed and arranged for motion over the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball member based on relative motion therebetween; a locking member comprising a locking lever;
wherein the locking member is associated with the ball means for fixing the position of the rider on the ball means to thereby freeze the relative position between the proximal and distal movable members;a rotation knob for controlling said distal tool to rotate about a distal tool axis, the rotation knob being coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider; a bearing means between the rotation knob and the rider, and the locking lever being mounted on the rider, the locking lever having locked and unlocked states and for engagement with the ball means in the locked state. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A medical instrument comprising:
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a handle; a distal tool; a proximal movable member controlled from said handle; a distal movable member controlled from said proximal movable member to provide controlled movement of said distal tool; an instrument shaft that intercouples said proximal and distal movable members; and actuation means coupled between said movable members and including a set of cables, each cable of the set having proximal and distal cable ends, and coupled between the proximal and distal movable members so that any movement of the proximal movable member causes a corresponding movement of the distal movable member; a ball supported by one of the instrument shaft and handle; said ball having an outer at least partially spherical surface; a movable ring assembly including a rider having an inner concave surface that rides on and conforms to the outer at least partially spherical surface of the ball; a rotation knob coupled with the rider while rotationally mounted relative to the rider; said movable ring assembly further including a cable retainer supported by said rotation knob and for retaining the proximal ends of said cables. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42)
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Specification