SURGICAL INSTRUMENT FOR MINIMALLY INVASIVE SURGERY

Abstract

A surgical instrument comprising two jaw portions, at least one of which is rotatably mounted via an axis of rotation at a distal end of a shaft and is connected via a traction cable or a push rod to a gripping portion at the proximal end of the shaft, wherein the jaw formed by the jaw portions is held in an open or closed position by means of a suspension when the instrument is at rest.

Claims

1. A surgical instrument (100) comprising two jaw portions (102), at least one of which is rotatably mounted via an axis of rotation (302) at a distal end of a shaft (104) and is connected via a traction cable or a push rod (304) to a gripping portion (106) at the proximal end of the shaft (104), wherein the jaw formed by the jaw portions (102) is held in an open or closed position by means of a suspension when the instrument (100) is at rest.

2. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 1, wherein the suspension comprises spring elements (306) which each connect one of the jaw portions (102) to the traction cable or the push rod (304).

3. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 2, wherein the spring elements (306) are each connected to the traction cable or the push rod (304) by at least one of: cohesively (308) and integrally.

4. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 2, wherein the spring elements (306) are each formed integrally with one of the jaw portions (102).

5. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 2, wherein the spring elements (306) each comprise at least a portion of a leaf spring.

6. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 1, wherein, in the gripping portion (106), the suspension comprises at least one spring arm (904).

7. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 1, wherein the jaw portions (102) are each connected to the traction cable or the push rod (304) by at least one of: cohesively and integrally.

8. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 1, wherein the instrument (100) further comprises at least one of an electrical connector and a rinsing connector (108) provided at the proximal end of the gripping portion (106).

9. A surgical instrument (100) comprising two jaw portions (102), which are each connected to an actuating element (902) via a traction cable or a push rod (304), wherein the actuating element (902) is arranged in a gripping portion (106) at the proximal end of the instrument and has at least one spring element (904, 906) which can be deformed by actuation of the gripping portion (106), wherein a deformation of the spring element (904) triggers an actuation of the actuation element (902) within the gripping portion (106) and thereby exerts a pull or pushing force on the traction cables or push rods (304).

10. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 9, wherein the actuating element (902) is formed by a displacement carriage.

11. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 10, wherein the actuation of the actuation element (902) triggers a displacement of the displacement carriage.

12. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 9, wherein the at least one spring element (904, 906) comprises at least one spring arm.

13. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 9, wherein the at least one spring element (904, 906) comprises at least one compression spring.

14. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 10, wherein the traction cable or the push rod (304) is each attached to the displacement carriage (902) by a driver (908).

15. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 12, wherein the at least one spring arm rests against inner walls of the gripping portion (106).

16. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 12, wherein the at least one spring arm is movably connected to the gripping portion (106).

17. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 12, wherein the at least one spring element (904, 906) comprises two spring arms (904) which are arranged on opposite sides of the gripping portion (106).

18. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 9, wherein the at least one spring element (904, 906) forms a suspension by which the jaw formed by the jaw portions (102) is held in an open position when the instrument (100) is at rest.

19. The surgical instrument (100) according to claim 9, wherein the at least one spring element (904, 906) forms a suspension by which the jaw formed by the jaw portions (102) is held in a closed position when the instrument (100) is at rest.

20. The surgical instrument according to claim 1, wherein, in the gripping portion (106), the suspension comprises at least one compression spring (906).

21. The surgical instrument according to claim 20, wherein the at least one compression spring is located adjacent to the proximal end of the gripping portion (106).

22. The surgical instrument according to claim 14, wherein the driver (908) includes a clamping bush.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] In which:

[0021] FIG. 1 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a surgical instrument;

[0022] FIG. 2 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a surgical instrument in a further perspective;

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a component of the distal end of the surgical instrument;

[0024] FIG. 4 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a component of the distal end of the surgical instrument with an alternative embodiment of the axis of rotation;

[0025] FIG. 5 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of the distal end of the surgical instrument;

[0026] FIG. 6 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of the distal end of the surgical instrument in a further perspective;

[0027] FIG. 7 shows a drawing describing an alternative embodiment of the distal end of the surgical instrument;

[0028] FIG. 8 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a surgical instrument in a further perspective with details of a gripping portion;

[0029] FIG. 9 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of a gripping portion;

[0030] FIG. 10 shows a drawing describing an embodiment of the connection of the traction cable to the displacement carriage by means of clamping bushes; and

[0031] FIG. 11 shows a drawing describing an integrated embodiment with a traction cable/push rod attached directly to the jaw portion.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] FIG. 1 shows a drawing of the surgical instrument 100 in a preferred embodiment. The surgical instrument 100 can be tweezers, forceps/clamps or a bipolar coagulation instrument, for example. The surgical instrument comprises two jaw portions 102 at the distal end of the instrument, which are connected by a shaft 104 to the gripping portion 106 at the proximal end of the instrument. The gripping portion contains an electrical connector and/or a rinsing connector 108. The connector 108 is formed in the shape of a cable and/or rinsing connector firmly connected to the proximal end of the gripping portion 106. FIG. 2 shows the surgical instrument 100 from a perspective rotated by 90° in relation to FIG. 1.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a drawing of a component 300 in an embodiment in which the jaw portions 102 are each mounted on the shaft 104 via a rotary bearing or an axis of rotation 302 with a traction cable or a push rod 304. At least one of the jaw portions 102 is connected to the traction cable or the push rod 304 in a direct and cohesive connection 308 via a spring element 306. The two jaw portions can therefore each be actuated by means of a traction cable or a push rod. The jaw portions 102 and spring element 306 are preferably integrally formed. The axis of rotation comprises a hole or bore at the distal end of the shaft.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a component 400 with an alternative configuration of the axis of rotation 302. The axis of rotation 302 comprises a recess here.

[0035] The spring element 306 can be formed by a leaf spring or a leaf spring section as an extension of the shaft 104. Alternatively, it can be formed by a leaf spring section as an extension of the traction cable or the push rod 304. The spring element 306 represents an embodiment of the suspension of the instrument 100 described above. In this case, the jaw, which is formed by the jaw portions 102, is held in an open or closed position in a rest position of the instrument 100, depending on the configuration.

[0036] FIG. 5 shows the distal end 500 of the instrument consisting of two components 300 in such a resting position. FIG. 6 shows this distal end of the instrument from a perspective rotated by 90° in relation to FIG. 5.

[0037] FIG. 7 shows the distal end 700 of the instrument with the rinsing tube 702 running from the inside to the outside. Furthermore, here too the jaw portions are mounted so as to be rotatable about the axes of rotation 302 which are located in the head piece 704 of the shaft 104.

[0038] FIG. 8 shows a drawing of the surgical instrument 100 illustrating the gripping portion 106. FIG. 9 shows a configuration 900 of the gripping portion 106 of the surgical instrument 100. The traction cables or push rods 304 run in the shaft 104 and are connected to a displacement carriage 902 in the gripping portion 106. In one embodiment, the traction cables or push rods 304 are connected to the displacement carriage 902 by drivers 908, in particular clamping bushes. In one embodiment, the gripping portion 106 includes two spring arms 904 that rest on opposite sides of the interior of the gripping portion 106, respectively. The spring arms 106 are also connected to the displacement carriage 902. The gripping portion 106 contains additional spring portions 906, which are formed in particular by compression springs or restoring springs. The additional spring portions increase the spring force of the spring arms 904.

[0039] FIG. 10 shows a portion of the gripping portion 106 of the surgical instrument 100. An embodiment 1000 is shown, wherein the connection of the traction cable or the push rod 304 to the displacement carriage 902 is realised by means of a clamping bush 908.

[0040] FIG. 11 describes an alternative embodiment 1100 of the component 300, in which the jaw portion 102 is directly integrally or cohesively connected to a traction cable or a push rod 304 via a rotary bearing or an axis of rotation 302. As a result, the spring element 306 from FIGS. 3-6 can be omitted. The axis of rotation 302 comprises a hole or bore at the distal end of the shaft.

[0041] Overall, the invention includes a plurality of options for the suspension of the spring-supported single-joint instrument. The suspension can be formed by a spring element 306 on the jaw portions 102 together with the integrated spring arm 904 in the gripping portion 106. This is possible, for example, by combining the component 300 in FIG. 3 and a gripping portion as in FIG. 9 without a compression spring 906. Alternatively, the suspension can only be formed by a compression spring 906 together with the integrated spring arm 904 in the gripping portion 106. In a further alternative embodiment, the suspension can be formed both by the spring elements 306 on the jaw portions 102 together with the integrated spring arm 904 in the gripping portion 106 and by a compression spring 906 together with the integrated spring arm 904 in the gripping portion, corresponding to a combination of the configurations from FIG. 3 and FIG. 9. Alternatively, the suspension without a spring arm 904 can be realised only via a spring element 306 or only via a compression spring 906 or a combination of a spring element 306 and a compression spring 906.

[0042] The described features of each configuration can thus be combined with the features of other configurations.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0043] 100 surgical instrument [0044] 102 jaw portion [0045] 104 shaft [0046] 106 gripping portion [0047] 108 electric connector and/or rinsing connector [0048] 300 component on the distal end of the surgical instrument [0049] 302 axis of rotation [0050] 304 traction cable or push rod [0051] 306 spring element [0052] 308 cohesive connection [0053] 400 alternative component on the distal end of the surgical instrument [0054] 500 distal end of the surgical instrument [0055] 700 alternative distal end of the surgical instrument [0056] 702 rinsing tube [0057] 704 head piece of the shaft 104 [0058] 900 configuration of the gripping portion 106 [0059] 902 displacement carriage [0060] 904 spring arm [0061] 906 pressure spring [0062] 908 driver [0063] 1000 configuration of the traction cable/push rod connection to the displacement carriage [0064] 1100 integral embodiment of jaw portion and traction cable/push rod