Surgery – Specula – Retractor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-25
2002-01-22
Hirsch, Paul J. (Department: 3732)
Surgery
Specula
Retractor
C600S229000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06340345
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a retractor blade for use in surgery, a ratcheted blade holder for holding the blade to allow movement with two degrees of freedom, and the combination of the two.
DESCRIPTION OF RELATED ART
It is known in the surgical arts to provide access to certain body parts during surgery by providing devices to hold certain other body parts out of the way. For example, during a liver transplant, it is often necessary to hold the rib cage up and the stomach out of the way; retaining devices having retaining blades at their ends can be attached to the above-mentioned horizontal bar to perform those functions. A well known example of that technology is a Stieber Grip sold by the assignee of the present application and shown in FIG.
1
.
The Stieber Grip
101
is secured to the surgical table by a pair of clamping devices shown in dotted lines and is positioned over the patient P to hold the patient's stomach and rib cage out of the way to allow access to the liver (internal organs not being shown in detail in FIG.
1
). The assembly
101
includes, inter alia, sliding platforms
103
with ratchet mechanisms
105
for holding ratchet handles
107
with blades
109
on their ends. The ratchet engagement between the ratchet mechanisms
105
and the ratchet handles
107
allows the blades
109
to be set at desired positions, e.g., to accommodate various types of operations or patients P of various sizes. That engagement also allows the handles
107
and blades
109
to be removed altogether to insert blades
109
of different sizes or different devices altogether. The rest of the assembly and the details of its use will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.
FIG. 2
shows the handle
107
and blade
109
in detail. As can be seen, blades
109
of various sizes and shapes can be provided. However, the blades
109
are permanently attached to the handles
107
by pivot attachments
111
. Also, the pivot attachments
111
allow rotation of the blades
109
only in a single plane, or in other words with a single degree of freedom.
The following references show such blades, and the disclosures of those references are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties into the present disclosure: U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,652, issued to Meier et al on Mar. 13, 1979; U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,897, issued to Greenstein et al on Aug. 7, 1990; A. C. Stieber, “Hepatic Transplantation with the Aid of the Iron Intern Retractor,”
The American Journal of Surgery,
Vol. 160, pp. 300-01, September, 1990; and R. J. Greenstein, “Mechanical Retraction in Obesity and Esophagogastric Surgery,”
Obesity Surgery,
Vol. 1, pp. 431-433, 1991.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In light of the above, it will be readily apparent that a need exists in the art for a surgical retractor blade that can move relative to its handle in more than simply a single plane, or in other words in two degrees of freedom. To this end, a primary object of the invention is to provide a surgical retractor blade that is attached to its handle for two degrees of freedom.
A further object of the invention is to provide a surgical retractor blade that is removable from its handle.
To achieve these and other objects, the present invention is directed to a surgical retractor blade and ratchet handle that are attached with a joint that allows two degrees of freedom, such as a ball-and-socket joint. The blade is rendered removable in different ways in two preferred embodiments. In one preferred embodiment, the ball-and-socket joint is configured so that the blade is normally held in the joint but can be removed as needed. The removal operation involves a relative movement between the blade and the handle that will not occur while the blade in use, so that the blade will not come off during surgery. In another preferred embodiment, the ball-and-socket joint permanently attaches a holder to the handle, and the blade is removably attached to the handle.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3129706 (1964-04-01), Reynolds, Jr.
patent: 3227156 (1966-01-01), Gauthier
patent: 3339913 (1967-09-01), Anderson
patent: 3542015 (1970-11-01), Steinman
patent: 4143652 (1979-03-01), Meier et al.
patent: 4461284 (1984-07-01), Fackler
patent: 4491435 (1985-01-01), Meier
patent: 4718151 (1988-01-01), LeVahn et al.
patent: 4796846 (1989-01-01), Meier et al.
patent: 4945897 (1990-08-01), Greenstein et al.
patent: 5025780 (1991-06-01), Farley
patent: 5162039 (1992-11-01), Dahners
patent: 5224680 (1993-07-01), Greenstein et al.
patent: 5365921 (1994-11-01), Bookwalter et al.
patent: 5441042 (1995-08-01), Putman
patent: 5529571 (1996-06-01), Daniel
patent: 5538215 (1996-07-01), Hosey
patent: 5662300 (1997-09-01), Michelson
patent: 5755412 (1998-05-01), Guibert et al.
patent: 5865731 (1999-02-01), Lenox et al.
patent: 5876332 (1999-03-01), Looney
patent: 5902233 (1999-05-01), Farley et al.
patent: 5908382 (1999-06-01), Koros et al.
patent: 5931777 (1999-08-01), Sava
patent: 5944658 (1999-08-01), Koros et al.
patent: 5976080 (1999-11-01), Farascionl
patent: 5984865 (1999-11-01), Farley et al.
patent: WO 97/40752 (1997-11-01), None
A.C. Stieber, Hepatic Transplantation With the Aid of the Iron Intern Retractor, The American Journal of Surgery, vol. 160, pp. 300-301, Sep. 1990.
R.J. Greenstein, Mechanical Retraction in Obesity and Esophagogastric Surgery, vol. 1, pp. 431-433, 1991.
Brown Jerry M.
Diamont Gregory
Lees John
Automated Medical Products Corp.
Blank Rome Comisky & McCauley LLP
Hirsch Paul J.
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