Small diameter laparoscopic tool having releasable tip

摘要

A laparoscopy tool includes a sheath and a control wire slideably disposed within a lumen of the sheath. The sheath has a diameter of less than 1.6 mm and is introduced through an abdominal incision. A handle axially displaces the control wire within the lumen and operates a conventional tip with wire-controlled opposing jaws that is introduced through the umbilicus and has a bore formed in its trailing end. A first set of blades in the bore engage grooves formed in the leading end of the control wire and a second set of blades engages the sheath to prevent sheath retraction. A cam displaces the second set of blades away from the sheath for sheath introduction and removal, and toward the sheath to prevent sheath retraction. The tip is removed through the umbilicus and the tool is removed through the abdominal incision when the surgery is completed.

主权项

1. A laparoscopy tool, comprising:
a small diameter sheath having a lumen; a control wire slideably disposed within said lumen; a handle having a fixed position part engaged to said small diameter sheath and a movable part engaged to a proximal end of said control wire for axially displacing said control wire within said lumen in either axial direction; a tip having opposed jaws that open and close as said control wire is displaced within said lumen, said small diameter sheath and control wire being releasably connected to said tip; a bore formed in a tubular trailing end of said tip; a first and a second blade, formed of a flexible and resilient material, mounted within said bore in diametrically opposed relation to one another and extending radially inwardly towards a longitudinal axis of symmetry of said bore, said first and second blades having a common length and having radially innermost ends that are spaced apart from one another by a space having less breadth than said control wire so that said radially innermost ends of said blades are momentarily displaced in a proximal-to-distal direction when said control wire is inserted into said bore; and a first groove formed in a leading end of said control wire on a first side thereof and a second groove formed in said leading end of said control wire on a second side thereof, said first and second grooves being transversely disposed relative to a longitudinal axis of said control wire and said first and second grooves respectively receiving said first and second blades when said control wire is inserted into said bore, said first and second blades snapping into said first and second grooves, respectively, under their inherent bias after said momentary displacement.