Clip advancer with lockout mechanism

• US 8,267,945 B2
• Filed: 12/01/2009
• Issued: 09/18/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cilag Gmbh International (Johnson & Johnson)
• Original Assignee: Ethicon Endo-Surgery, Inc. (Johnson & Johnson)
• Inventors: Nguyen, Anthony T., Herrera-Davis, Denzel Z.
• Primary Examiner(s): Woo, Julian
• Application Number:
  US12/628,662
• Publication Number:
  US 20110087243A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,022 Days
• Field of Search: 606/75, 606/139, 606/142, 606/219, 606/143, 227/175.1
• US Class Current: 606/143
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/1285 for minimally invasive surgery
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 17/2909 Handles
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2017/00407 Ratchet means
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2090/0807 Indication means

Abstract

A surgical clip applier and methods for applying surgical clips to a vessel, duct, shunt, etc., during a surgical procedure are provided. In one embodiment, a surgical clip applier is provided and can include a housing having a trigger movably coupled thereto and an elongate shaft extending therefrom with opposed jaws formed on a distal end thereof. The clip applier can include an advancer assembly disposed within the elongate shaft and configured to advance one of a plurality of clips disposed within the elongate shaft into the opposed jaws. A feeder shoe can be disposed within the elongate shaft and can be configured to engage and prevent the advancer assembly from moving to a proximal position after the advancer assembly has moved to a distal position to advance a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws. This can indicate to a user that a clip supply of the surgical clip applier is depleted.

Claims

1. A surgical clip applier, comprising:

a housing having a trigger movably coupled thereto and an elongate shaft extending therefrom with opposed jaws formed on a distal end thereof;

an advancer assembly coupled to the trigger, disposed within the elongate shaft, and configured to advance one of a plurality of clips disposed within the elongate shaft into the opposed jaws, the advancer assembly being movable between a proximal position and a distal position; and

a feeder shoe disposed within the elongate shaft and having a tang configured to engage the advancer assembly to lock the advancer assembly, and thus the trigger, in respective partially advanced positions to prevent the advancer assembly from moving to the proximal position, and thus to prevent the trigger from moving to a fully opened position, after the advancer assembly has moved to the distal position to advance a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws.

2. The surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein movement of the trigger from an open position to a closed position is effective to move the advancer assembly from the proximal position to the distal position.

3. The surgical clip applier of claim 1, further comprising a clip track disposed within the elongate shaft and having a plurality of clips seated therein.

4. The surgical clip applier of claim 3, wherein the feeder shoe is slidably disposed within the clip track to distally advance the plurality of clips through the clip track.

5. The surgical clip applier of claim 1, wherein the advancer assembly includes a recess formed therein that is configured to be engaged by the tang on the feeder shoe to prevent the advancer assembly from moving to the proximal position after the advancer assembly has moved a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws.

6. The surgical clip applier of claim 5, wherein the tang on the feeder shoe is configured to move distally with the feeder shoe as the feeder shoe advances the plurality of clips through the clip track.

7. The surgical clip applier of claim 5, wherein the advancer assembly comprises a feed bar coupled to an advancer, the advancer having a distal end configured to contact and advance one of a plurality of clips into the opposed jaws.

8. The surgical clip applier of claim 7, wherein the recess is formed through a distal portion of the feed bar and a proximal portion of the advancer.

9. The surgical clip applier of claim 5, wherein a proximal portion of the tang is connected to the feeder shoe and a distal portion of the tang is disconnected from the feeder shoe and extends a distance below an inferior surface of the feeder shoe.

10. A surgical clip applier, comprising:

a handle housing having a trigger movably coupled thereto and an elongate shaft extending distally therefrom, the elongate shaft having'"'"'opposed jaws on a distal end thereof;

a clip advancing assembly having a feedershoe and an advancer assembly, an inferior surface of the feeder shoe being in slidable engagement with a superior surface of the advancer assembly, and the clip advancing assembly being operatively associated with the trigger and configured to advance one of a plurality of clips disposed within the elongate shaft into the opposed jaws; and

a lockout mechanism configured to lock the clip advancing assembly in place after the clip advancing assembly has distally advanced a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws, the clip advancing assembly configured to lock the trigger in an actuated position when the clip advancing assembly is locked in place by the lockout mechanism.

11. The surgical clip applier of claim 10, further comprising a pawl and ratchet mechanism disposed within the handle housing and operatively associated with the trigger, the pawl and ratchet mechanism having an engaged configuration in which the pawl and ratchet mechanism controls movement of the trigger and a disengaged configuration in which the trigger is movable independently of the pawl and ratchet mechanism.

12. The surgical clip applier of claim 11, wherein the lockout mechanism is configured to lock the pawl and ratchet mechanism in an engaged configuration after the clip advancing assembly has advanced a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws to thereby lock the trigger in an actuated position.

13. The surgical clip applier of claim 11, wherein the trigger is movable in a first direction from a fully open position to a fully closed position, and a second direction from the fully closed position to the fully open position, and wherein the trigger is limited to movement in only one of the first and second directions when the pawl and ratchet mechanism are in the engaged configuration, and the trigger is freely movable in both the first and second directions when the pawl and ratchet mechanism are in the disengaged configuration.

14. The surgical clip applier of claim 11, wherein the ratchet mechanism includes a series of teeth for engaging the pawl.

15. The surgical clip applier of claim 10, wherein the lockout mechanism comprises a tang formed on the feeder shoe that is configured for locking engagement with a recess formed in the advancer assembly after the advancer assembly advances a proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws.

16. The surgical clip applier of claim 10, wherein the opposed jaws are configured to open and release a proximal-most clip before the lockout mechanism locks the clip advancing assembly.

17. A method for advancing surgical clips, comprising:

moving a trigger from an open-most position to a closed-most position to correspondingly advance a proximal-most clip of a plurality of clips into opposed jaws of a clip applier; and

releasing the trigger such that the trigger is locked in an actuated position intermediate the open-most and closed-most positions to prevent the trigger from being moved to the open-most position.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein a tang formed on a feeder shoe is engaged by a recess formed in an advancer assembly to lock the trigger.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein moving the trigger from the open-most position to the closed-most position moves the advancer assembly distally over the feeder shoe to advance the proximal-most clip into the opposed jaws of the clip applier and releasing the trigger moves the advancer assembly proximally over the feeder shoe until the recess in the advancer assembly engages the tang on the feeder shoe.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising releasing the proximal-most clip from the opposed jaws of the clip applier before the trigger is locked in an actuated position between the open-most and closed-most positions to prevent the trigger from being moved to the open-most position.