Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-28
2001-07-17
Nguyen, Anhtuan T. (Department: 3734)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C606S167000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06261265
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a protective device for a cutting and/or perforating tool, particularly for a medical instrument such as a scalpel or the needle of a syringe.
In the medical field, numerous cutting and/or perforating instruments are used by care givers, infirmaries, doctors, surgeons and related personnel, who can injure themselves in the course of handling.
There can be distinguished on the one hand the risks and on the other hand the consequences.
The present risks encountered during use:
a) of a cutting instrument, such as a scalpel (outside the operating room), can give rise to
either accidental wounding of the operator, either by himself or by a third party during handling over the instrument,
or a wounding of a helper upon return of the instrument,
or the sterilization of the operating table when the scalpel is deposited on the instrument table;
b) of a perforating instrument, such as a syringe needle, can give rise to accidental pricking of the care giver
either by a needle already sterilized after opening the package,
or by a needle already having been used with the risk of inoculation of a blood product (by an instrument either already laid on the table or in the course of handling).
The consequences are:
a) generally speaking, both for a scalpel and for a needle, a risk of transmission of infectious, viral (hepatitis virus, HIV virus, . . . ), bacterial or parasitic agent. Certain harm can be irreversible;
b) from an anatomic and functional standpoint (more particularly with scalpels), cutting tendons, cutting nerves or collateral peduncle of a finger; the prognosis is sometimes very grave as to these cuts, giving rise to functional incapacity which can be permanent with consequences on a professional level but also on the operative level for normal life.
Any accident gives rise to carrying out a protocol which can extend for several years and the indemnification of this accident can hit the public health budget particularly hard.
The problem connected to the protection of personnel using cutting and/or perforating tools is particularly sensitive in the medical field because it can have dramatic consequences for human health.
However, despite the gravity of this problem and the existence of very infectious diseases for a number of years, no reliable and efficacious solution has yet been found to overcome these drawbacks.
The present invention therefore has for its object to eliminate the mentioned drawbacks, to satisfy the requirements of public health and to provide a device for general protection for a cutting and/or perforating tool, and more particularly for a medical instrument.
To this end, the invention has for its object a protective device for a cutting and/or perforating tool, characterized in that it comprises:
means to isolate from the outside a distal cutting and/or perforating portion of the tool, this means being connected to a proximal non-cutting and/or non-perforating portion of the tool with limited relative movement and having an opening for the passage of said distal portion between a protective position, in which the means to isolate the tool surrounds at least partially said distal portion, and a working position, in which said distal portion is disengaged from the means to isolate the tool, and
resilient means to return the distal portion to the protective position, said distal portion being adapted to move toward the working position under the influence of external pressure opposing the force of the resilient return means.
In the first embodiment, the invention comprises the following additional characteristics:
the device is adapted to protect a scalpel or the like, and comprises:
means to isolate from the outside a blade forming the distal portion of the scalpel, this means being connected to a sleeve forming a proximal portion of the scalpel with limited relative movement and having an opening for the passage of said blade between a protective position, in which said means at least partially surround said blade, and a working position, in which said blade is disengaged from said means, and
resilient means to return the blade to the protective position, said blade being adapted to move toward the working position under the influence of external pressure opposing the force of the resilient return means, said isolation means having the general shape of a fork whose tines of the fork define the mentioned opening for the passage of the blade of the scalpel, said means being connected to the handle of the scalpel so as to permit displacement of the fork in the plane of the blade, said fork being connected to the proximal end of the handle of the scalpel by a connection region serving as a hinge, to permit moving toward each other of the handle and the fork when the user has gripped them with the fingers in the manner of the tines of a dissecting tweezers, to bring the blade to its working position;
each tine of the fork extends in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the blade and has a contour which at least circumscribes the contour of the blade in its protective position;
the handle of the scalpel and the fork are functionally connected to each other by a region of material having its own elasticity to permit relative moving apart and together of the handle and the fork by resilient deformation of this region, the latter serving also as the resilient return means;
the handle of the scalpel and said fork are made in a single piece and of the same material;
the handle of the scalpel and the fork are articulated to each other and the resilient return means is constituted by a spring interposed between them;
said fork comprises abutments to prevent the displacement of the blade beyond the protective and working positions;
the fork comprises a handle serving as an end of path abutment for the handle of the scalpel when the blade is displaced into its working position;
the handle of the fork has a transverse cross-section of general U shape defining a recess for receiving the handle of the scalpel when it is brought to its working position;
the tines of the fork are connected by a bridge of material serving as an end of path abutment for the handle of the scalpel when the blade is returned to its protective position;
the fork has on its two external side surfaces a convex shape to serve as a gripping surface for the fingers of the user.
In a second embodiment, the invention comprises the following additional characteristics:
the device is adapted to protect a needle, and comprises:
means to isolate from the outside a point forming the distal perforating portion of the needle, this means being connected to a ferrule for connection to a syringe forming the proximal portion of the needle with limited relative movement and having an opening for the passage of said point between a protective position, in which said means at least partially surrounds said point, and a working position, in which said point is disengaged from said means,
resilient means to return the point to the protective position, said point being adapted to move toward the working position under the influence of external pressure opposing the force of the resilient return means, said isolation means being constituted by a transparent tube open at its two ends, through which is slidably mounted the distal portion of the needle, and
anti-return blocking means to block the point of the needle in a protective position, said blocking means being adapted to engage on the tube by relative movement between said tube and needle under the influence of an external force to prevent the movement of the point toward its working position;
the blocking means is connected to the ferrule of the needle and a proximal portion of the tube and is adapted to free this blocking means during sliding of the tube relative to the point in a direction opposite to the movement toward its working position, to obtain resilient engagement of the blocking means against said proximal portion of the tube;
the resilient means is a coil spring mounted axially about the needle and connecting the
Nguyen Anhtuan T.
Young & Thompson
LandOfFree
Device for protecting a cutting and/or drilling tool does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Device for protecting a cutting and/or drilling tool, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Device for protecting a cutting and/or drilling tool will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2503914