Elongated-member-driving apparatus – Surgical stapler – With magazine
Reexamination Certificate
2003-01-13
2004-03-02
Smith, Scott A. (Department: 3721)
Elongated-member-driving apparatus
Surgical stapler
With magazine
C227S019000, C227S176100, C227S178100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06698643
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an attachment for an electromechanical device for use with anastomosing, stapling, and resecting surgical tools, and more specifically to a stapling and resecting device which can be attached to and serve as an extension of an electromechanical device driver, and most specifically to the expanding parallel jaws and the mechanisms thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Upon identification of cancerous and other anomalous tissue in the gastrointestinal tract, surgical intervention is often prescribed. The field of cancer surgery, and more specifically, the surgical procedure by which a section of the gastrointestinal tract which includes cancerous tissue is resected, includes a number of uniquely designed instruments. In combination with a description of the present instrumentation and their functions, a description of the state of the art in this surgical procedure shall also be provided.
The first question which must be answered when determining how to treat gastrointestinal tract cancer relates to the specific location of the cancerous tissue. This is very important insofar as the instruments which are provided in the present art have limitations relating to how far they may be inserted into the gastrointestinal tract. If the cancerous tissue is too far up or down the gastrointestinal tract, then the standard instrumentation provided is unusable, thus requiring special accommodations. These accommodations generally increase the risk of contamination of the surrounding tissues with bowel contents, increase the length of the surgery and the corresponding need for anesthesia, and eliminate the benefits of precise anastomosing and stapling which comes from utilizing a mechanized device.
More specifically, in the event that the cancerous tissue is located at a position in the colon which is accessible by the present instrumentation, the patient's abdomen is initially opened to expose the bowel. The surgeon then cuts the tube of the colon on either side of the cancerous tissue, while simultaneously stapling closed the two open ends of the bowel (a distal end which is directed toward the anus, and the proximal end which is closest to the lower intestine). This temporary closure is performed in order to minimize contamination. The linear cutter and stapling instrument which is used in the prior art is provided in a perspective view in FIG.
1
.
More particularly, this temporary closure is achieved when the colon is placed between the scissoring elements at the tip of the linear cutter and stapling instrument. By squeezing the trigger in the handle of the device, the surgeon causes the scissoring elements to come together. A second trigger (or a secondary action of the same trigger) is then actuated to drive a series of staples and a cutting blade through the clamped end of the colon, thereby closing and transecting the ends.
After the sealing of the two exposed distal and proximal ends, the surgeon creates a small opening in the proximal end of the bowel and inserts the removable anvil portion of an anastomosing and stapling instrument. This step, as well as those of the remainder of the surgical procedure, are related to the functioning of this surgical instrument which is provided in a perspective view in FIG.
2
. More particularly, the surgeon begins by taking the instrument and manually turning the dial at the base of the handle which causes the anvil head at the opposite end to advance forward. The surgeon continues to turn the dial until the anvil head advances to its most extreme extended position. This manual turning requires nearly thirty full rotations. Once fully extended, the anvil head of the instrument is decoupled therefrom and is inserted into the exposed proximal end such that the coupling post extends outwardly therethrough. As described above, this proximal end is then stapled closed. The extending shaft of the anastomosing and stapling instrument is then inserted and advanced into the lower colon, transanally, until the coupling stem thereof extends through the stapled distal end. The surgeon then joins the coupling ends of the anvil and shaft together and begins to manually rotate the dial in the handle again, this time bringing the anvil head closer to the tip of the shaft.
Once the anvil head and shaft are brought close together, after the surgeon has manually rotated the dial another thirty times, a grip-style trigger in the handle is manually actuated. This actuation causes a circular blade to advance axially out from the tip of the shaft, and into contact with the opposing face of the anvil. The blade cuts through the stapled-closed ends of the proximal and distal ends of the colon, thereby also cutting a new pair of ends of the proximal and distal portions of the colon. The tissue which has been severed is held in an interior volume at the end of the shaft.
In lock step with the cutting the freshly opened ends are joined together by a series of staples which are advanced through holes in the perimeter of the tip of the shaft (being pressed against and closed by the opposing face of the anvil). The coupled shaft and anvil are then withdrawn from the patient.
More particularly with respect to the structural features of the linear stapling instrument of the prior art which is provided in
FIG. 1
, the device comprises a pistol grip-styled structure having an elongate shaft and distal portion. The distal portion includes a pair of scissors-styled gripping elements which clamp the open ends of the colon closed. In fact only one of the two scissors-styled gripping elements, the anvil portion, moves (pivots) relative to overall structure; the other remains fixed. The actuation of this scissoring means (the pivoting of the anvil portion) is controlled by means of a grip trigger maintained in the handle. A number of different means have been disclosed for holding the tips of the scissoring arms closed, including snaps, clips, collars, et al.
In addition to the scissoring means, the distal portion also includes a stapling mechanism. The non-moving element of the scissoring mechanism includes a staple cartridge receiving region and a mechanism for driving the staples up through the clamped end of the colon, against the anvil portion, thereby sealing the previously opened end. The scissoring elements may be integrally formed with the shaft, or may be detachable such that various scissoring and stapling elements may be interchangeable.
More particularly with respect to the structural features of the anastomosing and stapling instrument of the prior art which is provided in
FIG. 2
, the device comprises an anvil portion, a staple, blade and reservoir portion, a shaft portion, and a handle portion. The anvil portion, which is selectively removable from the tip of the shaft, is bullet shaped, having a blunt nosed top portion, a flat cutting support surface on the bottom, and a coupling post extending axially from the bottom surface.
The staple, blade, and reservoir portion (SBR portion) of the instrument is provided at the distal end of the instrument, and includes a selectively advanceable and retractable coupling stem for selectively receiving thereon the anvil portion. This action of the coupling stem is provided by a screw threaded shaft and worming mechanism mounted in the handle (described more fully below). The SBR portion is cylindrical in shape, forming a housing which has a hollow interior. It is this hollow interior which forms the reservoir. The blade is similarly cylindrical, and seats in the inside of the housing, against the inner wall thereof. The blade is selectively advanceable axially outward from the housing, in accordance with actuation of a trigger mechanism of the handle (again, described more fully below). On the axially outward facing surface of the cylindrical wall of the housing are a series of staple ports, through which the staples of the device are discharged. The same actuation which drives the blade forward similarly drives a series of
Kenyon & Kenyon
Power Medical Interventions, Inc.
Smith Scott A.
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