Surgery – Means for introducing or removing material from body for... – Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-03
2001-05-08
Kennedy, Sharon (Department: 3763)
Surgery
Means for introducing or removing material from body for...
Treating material introduced into or removed from body...
C604S264000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06228061
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to surgical instruments and, more particularly, to a trocar seal system. The trocar seal system of the present invention permits instruments of different sizes to be inserted into a trocar without breaking the gas seal created by the trocar. Unlike known trocar converters, the trocar seal system of the present invention is automatic and does not require any manipulation by the surgeon. The surgeon merely inserts the desired size of instrument and the trocar seal system provides the appropriate seal.
A trocar, in general, is a surgical instrument that can be used to create and maintain small hole-like incisions in a body cavity. These incisions are then used to introduce other surgical instruments into the body cavity to perform various surgical procedures. Conventional trocars include an obturator and a cannula. The obturator is a structure for penetrating a body wall to create the incision into the body cavity. The obturator can have either a sharp point or blunt tip. The cannula is a tube-like structure that is left in the incision made by the obturator to maintain the incision after the obturator is removed. Typically, the trocar comes as a unit that includes the obturator fitted inside of the cannula
In surgical procedures involving trocars, the body cavity is generally inflated with carbon dioxide gas. Inflation of the body cavity with this gas creates a working “pocket” within the cavity and limits surgical instruments inserted through the cannula from puncturing internal organs. To maintain the cavity in an inflated state throughout the procedure, conventional cannulas include flaps and annular seals that prevent gas from escaping from the cavity when the obturator is withdrawn from the cannula and when other surgical instruments are subsequently inserted and withdrawn from the cannula. The flaps and annular seals are unable to prevent the escape of the gas if the diameter of the surgical instrument is less than the diameter of the hole in the annular seal. Thus, in a typical procedure a surgeon is limited in the size of instruments that can be inserted through a given cannula. Many times a surgeon wants to choose from a variety of surgical instruments having different diameters. With conventional trocars this requires that the surgeon either insert a number of cannulas each having a different size annular seal if he wishes to use surgical instruments with different diameters, or that the surgeon change the hole size by snapping one of several trocar converters, each having an annular seal with a different diameter hole, onto the cannula The latter option requires a collection of trocar converters and continuous changing of the trocar converters for various instrument sizes.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a trocar that is capable of easily accommodating surgical instruments having different diameters while maintaining the inflated state of the body cavity.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the problems with traditional trocars by providing a trocar seal system, which has dual seals, that enables surgical instruments of different diameters to be inserted through the same trocar cannula. Each seal is configured to receive instruments of different diameters. One seal is for large instruments and the other for smaller instruments. When a large instrument is inserted, the smaller instrument seal moves out of the path of the instrument In the preferred embodiment, the smaller instrument seal is mounted to a platform or flapper door which pivots out of the path of the large instrument when it is inserted. When a small instrument is inserted, the platform remains stationary to receive the smaller instrument and the smaller instrument is sealed by the small seal.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the seal system includes a housing which is adapted to be mounted on one end of the cannula. In this embodiment, the housing preferably snaps onto the cannula. Mounted to the housing are a sleeve having a hole, a first instrument seal having a hole, and a platform or flapper door assembly. The sleeve has a first end and second end and the first instrument seal is mounted adjacent the first end of the sleeve. A hinge pin mounts the flapper door assembly adjacent the second end of the sleeve. The flapper door assembly includes a skid plate, second instrument seal and a hinge plate, each of which has a hole. The holes of the skid plate, second instrument seal and hinge plate are generally concentric. In one embodiment, the hole of the skid plate is eccentric with respect to the hole of the first instrument seal. In another embodiment, the hole of the skid plate is concentric with respect to the hole of the first instrument seal. The hinge plate is pivotally mounted to the sleeve and is movable between a normally closed position and an open position upon engagement by a larger diameter instrument In the normally closed position, a seal is maintained between the flapper door assembly and the second end of the sleeve. The hole of the second instrument seal has a smaller diameter than the hole in the first instrument seal. A duckbill valve is fitted into the bottom of the housing. The duckbill valve is a valve that is normally closed to prevent the escape of gas. The end of the valve has a slit that easily opens when an instrument is inserted through the valve. When an instrument is not present, gas pressure acts upon the angled end of the valve to keep it closed.
In a further embodiment of the present invention, the housing of the seal system is preferably threaded onto the end of the cannula. The housing has internal threads that mate with external threads on the cannula. Preferably, in this embodiment, the flapper door assembly is mounted to the housing as opposed to being mounted to the sleeve. The sleeve of this embodiment holds the first seal in the housing and holds a door seal in place. In the preferred embodiment, this sleeve is threaded into the housing for ease of assembly. In addition to the sleeve, a retainer ring is used to secure a duckbill valve to the housing. The duckbill valve of this embodiment is specially configured to fit into notches in the sleeve and has notches that receive tabs on the retainer ring.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4943280 (1990-07-01), Lander
patent: 5197955 (1993-03-01), Stephens et al.
patent: 5460615 (1995-10-01), Storz
patent: 5603702 (1997-02-01), Smith et al.
patent: 5807338 (1998-09-01), Smith et al.
Flatland Marty
Klinger John
Kwapis Larry M.
Howard & Howard
Imagyn Medical Technologies California, Inc.
Kennedy Sharon
Serke Catherine
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