Surgery – Instruments – Surgical mesh – connector – clip – clamp or band
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-01
2001-06-26
Jackson, Gary (Department: 3731)
Surgery
Instruments
Surgical mesh, connector, clip, clamp or band
Reexamination Certificate
active
06251117
ABSTRACT:
The invention relates to a vascular clip having a first and a second branch which are pivotal resiliently into a closed position whereby, in the region of a cross-over point, the first branch passes through a longitudinal slot in the second branch formed between two parallel webs.
Vascular clips of this type are employed for firmly clamping aneurysms in blood vessels for example. It is known thereby, to bend the substantially one-piece vascular clips which are made of a resilient round material in such a manner that the two ends of this round material form two branches which press together the clamping-cheeks located at their free ends in a resilient manner. For the purposes of guiding the two branches relative to one another, the two branches cross over and, in the region where they cross, this relative guidance is provided by feeding the first branch through a longitudinal slot in the second branch. In order to enhance the guidance arrangement, it is known to flatten the round material of the first branch on each side so that the flattened side-faces of the first branch will rest in planar manner on the likewise flattened inner surfaces of the longitudinal slot in the second branch. The longitudinal slot thus forms a guide box or enclosure box in which the double-sided flattened central region of the first branch can be guided in planar manner.
It has become apparent that this guidance arrangement is not quite sufficient when vascular clips of this type are subjected to extreme loads. Namely, there is a danger that a torsional force will nevertheless be applied to the first branch in the region of this guidance arrangement, possibly caused by the material of the first branch itself twisting or as the result of a very small widening of the enclosure box.
The object of the invention is to design a vascular clip in accordance with the first part of the main Claim such that torsion in the branches and hence lateral divergence of the clamping-cheeks can be prevented even under extreme loads.
In accordance with the invention, this object is achieved in the case of a vascular clip of the type described hereinabove in that a bridge piece is arranged laterally of the first branch which passes through the second branch, whereby said bridge piece extends in parallel with the section passing through the longitudinal slot in the second branch and, together with said section passing through the longitudinal slot, forms a longitudinal slot which is closed at each side and into which a web of the second branch is guided.
By virtue of this construction, a second enclosure box is, in practice, thereby produced, this time namely, by means of the section passing through the longitudinal slot in the second branch on the one hand, and, by means of the bridge piece applied externally to the first branch on the other. This enclosure box accommodates a web of the second branch so that a double form of guidance arrangement is created in the region of the cross-over, that is to say, firstly by means of the section of the first branch passing through the longitudinal slot in the second branch, and secondly, by means of the web penetrating into the longitudinal slot in the first branch.
In another preferred embodiment, provision is even made for such types of bridge piece to be arranged on each side of and in parallel with the section of the first branch that passes through the longitudinal slot in the second branch whereby, together with this section, the bridge pieces each form a respective longitudinal slot which is closed at each side and into which a respective web of the second branch is guided. Thus, in this construction, three enclosure boxes are provided one above the other so that, on the one hand, the section passing through the second branch will be guided in the central enclosure box and, on the other hand, the two webs of the second branch will be guided in the two outer enclosure boxes of the first branch.
Provision may hereby be made for the bridge piece of the first branch to be connected to the first branch at each end by welding, soldering or adhesion for example.
It is also advantageous if the bridge piece of the first branch bridges over a depression in the first branch which accommodates a web of the second branch. The height of the vascular clip in the region of the closure is then very small since the webs enter this depression and the bridge piece bridging over the depression thus projects laterally at most only slightly beyond the contour of the vascular clip. The depression may in any case have a stepped construction so that the bridge piece will then be disposed within the contour of the vascular clip and will not project at all.
It is advantageous for the inner surface of the bridge piece on the first branch to be flat. Thus, in conjunction with a similar flat construction for the webs of the second branch as well as for the section of the first branch passing through the longitudinal slot in the second branch, a fully planar guidance arrangement of the two branches relative to one another will also be provided in the lateral enclosure box.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1837277 (1931-12-01), Lund
patent: 4192315 (1980-03-01), Hilzinger et al.
patent: 4360023 (1982-11-01), Sugita et al.
patent: 4484581 (1984-11-01), Martin et al.
patent: 4765335 (1988-08-01), Schmidt et al.
patent: 5312426 (1994-05-01), Segawa et al.
patent: 26 58 478 (1978-04-01), None
patent: 31 39 488 (1983-04-01), None
patent: 37 22 311 (1989-01-01), None
patent: 297 08 218 U (1997-08-01), None
patent: 0 346 084 (1989-12-01), None
Kringel Bernd
Lutze Theodor
Schutzbach Lothar
Aesculap AG & Co. KG
Jackson Gary
Lipsitz Barry R.
Trinh (Vikki) Hoa
LandOfFree
Vascular clip does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Vascular clip, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Vascular clip will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2532196