RETRACTOR FOR SMALL-INCISION ENDOSCOPIC SURGERY

Abstract

This retractor easily ensures a surgical field as desired by an operator, can flexibly ensure and change the surgical field in accordance with the surgical site and the surgical situation, and can easily be moved to a desired position in the surgical site and taken out after the surgery. A retractor 1 holds a surgical incision in a body in an opened state to ensure a surgical field in small-incision endoscopic surgery, and includes a base body 2 that is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9% and has an elongated rectangular shape in an extended state of the base body. The retractor 1, in an extended form in a rectangular shape or in a rounded form in a small shape, can be inserted from a small incision wound into the body, and can easily be delivered to the surgical incision in the body by a surgical instrument. The base body 2 is bent and deformed into a desired shape by the surgical instrument and is applied to the surgical incision in the body, so that the surgical incision can be held in an opened state so as to ensure the surgical field. The base body 2 is made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, and thus the base body 2 has a high flexibility in particular, thereby allowing the base body 2 to be easily bent and deformed into a desired form by use of the surgical instrument.

Claims

1. A retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery, the retractor holding a surgical incision made in a body during the surgery in an opened state to ensure a surgical field in the small-incision endoscopic surgery, the retractor comprising a base body that is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, and has an elongated rectangular shape in an extended state of the base body, wherein a width of the base body is selected in a range of 1 to 5 cm and a length of the base body is selected in a range of 3 to 20 cm, in accordance with a size required for a use place, in a state that the base body is extended into a rectangular shape, in order to hold the surgical incision in an opened state; and then a thickness of the base body is selected in a range of 0.5 to 2 mm, in order to ensure flexural rigidity necessary for the use place, the retractor is inserted from a small incision wound into the body, with the base body being extended into a rectangular shape, or being rounded into a small shape, and the retractor is delivered to the surgical incision in the body by a surgical instrument used in the small-incision endoscopic surgery, and is used in a state that the base body is bent and deformed into a desired form by the surgical instrument and is applied to the surgical incision.

2. A retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery, the retractor holding a surgical incision made in a body during the surgery in an opened state to ensure a surgical field in the small-incision endoscopic surgery, the retractor comprising: a base body that is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, and has an elongated rectangular shape in an extended state of the base body; a width of the base body is selected in a range of 1 to 5 cm and a length of the base body is selected in a range of 3 to 20 cm, in accordance with a size required for a use place, in a state that the base body is extended into a rectangular shape, in order to hold the surgical incision in an opened state; and then a thickness of the base body is selected in a range of 0.5 to 2 mm, in order to ensure flexural rigidity necessary for the use place, and a fixing means configured to fix a leading end portion of a surgical hook to the base body, wherein the retractor is inserted from a small incision wound into the body, with the base body being extended into a rectangular shape, or being rounded into a small shape, in a state that the leading end portion of the surgical hook is fixed to the base body by the fixing means to hold the retractor by the surgical hook, and the retractor is delivered to the surgical incision in the body by the surgical hook, and is used in a state that the base body is bent and deformed into a desired form by a surgical instrument used in the small-incision endoscopic surgery, and is applied to the surgical incision.

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 1, wherein a bent portion bent in a loop shape about an axis parallel to a short direction of the base body is provided in an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the base body, in a state that the base body is extended into the rectangular shape.

6. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 2, wherein a bent portion bent in a loop shape about an axis parallel to a short direction of the base body is provided in an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the base body, in a state that the base body is extended into the rectangular shape.

7. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 1, wherein a tubular body having a through-hole parallel to a short direction of the base body is provided in an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the base body, in a state that the base body is extended into the rectangular shape.

8. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 2, wherein a tubular body having a through-hole parallel to a short direction of the base body is provided in an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the base body, in a state that the base body is extended into the rectangular shape.

9. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 1, wherein the base body has, on one or both surfaces thereof, an anti-slip protrusion.

10. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 2, wherein the base body has, on one or both surfaces thereof, an anti-slip protrusion.

11. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 1, wherein the base body is deformed into a cylindrical shape, and has protrusions arranged in a helical manner on a cylindrical face of the cylindrical shape.

12. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 2, wherein the base body is deformed into a cylindrical shape, and has protrusions arranged in a helical manner on a cylindrical face of the cylindrical shape.

13. The retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to claim 1, wherein a through-hole in a thickness direction of the base body is provided in an end portion in a longitudinal direction of the base body, in a state that the base body is extended into the rectangular shape.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a form in which a retractor for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to an embodiment of the present invention is extended into a rectangular shape.

[0044] FIG. 2A is a front view of the form of the retractor shown in FIG. 1.

[0045] FIG. 2B is a bottom view of the form of the retractor shown in FIG. 1.

[0046] FIG. 3A is a bottom view showing a modification in which bent portions in end portions in the longitudinal direction of a base body are replaced with tubular bodies which are separate bodies from the base body.

[0047] FIG. 3B is an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional bottom view of a main part of the modification shown in FIG. 3A.

[0048] FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a form in which the base body is deformed into a cylindrical shape as one example of a desired shape of the retractor.

[0049] FIG. 5A is a perspective view showing a modification of protrusions formed on a cylindrical face, and shows an example in which the protrusions are provided in three rows in the width direction.

[0050] FIG. 5B is a perspective view showing a modification of the protrusions formed on the cylindrical face, and shows an example in which the protrusions are provided in four rows in the width direction.

[0051] FIG. 6 is a longitudinal cross-sectional bottom view showing an example in which the protrusions are formed on both surfaces of the base body.

[0052] FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing through-holes in the thickness direction provided in end portions in the longitudinal direction of the base body.

[0053] FIG. 8 is a front view of a modification in which slits serving as fixing means for fixing a leading end portion of a surgical hook, are added to the base body.

[0054] FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a form in which the base body is deformed into a cylindrical shape, and shows a state in which the leading end portion of the surgical hook is inserted in the slits and fixed to the base body.

[0055] FIG. 10 is a front view of a modification in which through-holes serving as fixing means for fixing the leading end portion of the surgical hook, are added to the base body.

[0056] FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing a form in which the base body is deformed into a cylindrical shape, and shows a state that the leading end portion of the surgical hook is fixed to the base body by means of a thread passed through the through-holes.

[0057] FIG. 12 shows a state that through-holes are also provided in the leading end portion of the surgical hook and the leading end portion of the surgical hook is fixed to the base body by means of a thread passed through the through-holes in the base body and the through-holes in the surgical hook.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0058] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention is not limited to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings and includes all embodiments that meet the requirements described in the claims.

[0059] A retractor 1 for small-incision endoscopic surgery according to an embodiment of the present invention holds a surgical incision made in a body during small-incision endoscopic surgery, in an opened state, to ensure a surgical field. An extended form of the retractor 1 into a rectangular shape is shown in a perspective view in FIG. 1, a front view in FIG. 2A, and a bottom view in FIG. 2B.

[0060] The retractor 1 includes a base body 2 that is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, and has an elongated rectangular shape in its extended state. The retractor 1 also includes bent portions 3 and 4 respectively bent in loop shapes about axes D, E parallel to a short direction V, at end portions in a longitudinal direction U of the base body 2 in its extended form into a rectangular shape. In addition, the retractor 1 further includes protrusions 7, 7, . . . on a surface A of the base body 2.

[0061] Tin has a tetragonal tin (beta-tin) structure as a crystal structure at normal temperature/normal pressure, is a soft and silvery-white metal, is not affected by oxygen due to an oxide film, and does not react with water.

[0062] Such tin is used as the material of the base body 2, and thus the purity of tin forming the base body 2 is not less than 99.9%. That is, the base body 2 contains tin by not less than 99.9% by weight. Thus, the base body 2 has a high flexibility in particular, and can be easily bent by hand or a surgical instrument, for example.

[0063] The external shape of the base body 2 in the extended form into a rectangular shape has a width W of 1 to 5 cm, a length L of 3 to 20 cm, and a thickness T of 0.5 to 2 mm. In order to hold a surgical incision in the body in an opened state, the width W of the base body 2 is selected in a range of 1 to 5 cm and the length L of the base body 2 is selected in a range of 3 to 20 cm depending on the size required for a use place. Then, in order to ensure the flexural rigidity necessary for the use place, the thickness T of the base body 2 is selected in a range of 0.5 to 2 mm

[0064] As for the base body 2, a 3N tin ingot (purity: not less than 99.9%), a 4N tin ingot (purity: not less than 99.99%), or such a tin ingot having a high purity and a very large ductility is used. The ductility indicates the limit to which the material flexibly deforms without being broken. The tin ingot is processed into a plate shape having a desired thickness not through casting but through forging or rolling, and then, the plate-shaped tin ingot is cut into a rectangular shape having a desired width and a desired length, whereby the base body 2 is shaped. Being shaped in this manner, the base body 2 has the same purity as the tin ingot, and thus has a purity of not less than 99.9%.

[0065] In addition, through press working, the protrusions 7, 7, . . . are formed on the surface A of the base body 2, and the bent portions 3, 4 are formed in the end portions in the longitudinal direction U of the base body 2.

[0066] As shown in a bottom view in FIG. 3A and an enlarged longitudinal cross-sectional bottom view of a main part shown in FIG. 3B, the base body 2 may have, in the end portions in the longitudinal direction thereof, tubular bodies 5, 6 respectively having through-holes 5A, 6A parallel to the short direction of the base body 2, instead of the bent portions 3, 4 that are shown in the bottom view in FIG. 2B, in a state that the base body 2 is extended into a rectangular shape.

[0067] The tubular bodies 5, 6 are separate bodies from the base body 2, and are made of synthetic resin such as polyamide (PA) resin, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin, or polyether ether ketone (PEEK) resin, for example.

[0068] In the retractor 1 for small-incision endoscopic surgery as described above, the base body 2 is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9% and has an elongated rectangular shape in an extended state of the base body 2. Therefore, the retractor 1 can be inserted into the body from a small incision wound made in the chest or the abdomen with the base body 2 being extended into a rectangular shape, or being rounded into a small shape, and can easily be delivered by a surgical instrument used in the small-incision endoscopic surgery, to a surgical incision made in the body during the surgery.

[0069] In addition, the base body 2 is made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%. Thus, the base body 2 can easily be bent and deformed into a desired form by use of the surgical instrument. For example, the base body 2 can easily be shaped into a cylindrical shape as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 4.

[0070] The base body 2 can easily be deformed into a desired shape by gripping an appropriate place of the bent portion 3, 4 with an end effector such as a jaw of the surgical instrument, and performing operation with the surgical instrument.

[0071] In a configuration in which not the bent portions 3, 4 but the tubular bodies 5, 6 are provided as in FIG. 3A, such operation can be performed by gripping an appropriate place of the tubular body 5, 6 with an end effector of the surgical instrument, and performing operation with the surgical instrument.

[0072] The base body 2 of the retractor 1 is bent and deformed into a desired shape as shown in FIG. 4, and applied to the surgical incision in the body, thereby holding the surgical incision in an opened state, so as to ensure the surgical field.

[0073] In addition, the base body 2 of the retractor 1 can easily be deformed, and thus a surgical field as desired by an operator (surgeon) can easily be ensured. The surgical field can also be ensured and changed flexibly in accordance with the surgical site and the surgical situation.

[0074] Further, the operator operates the retractor 1, thereby eliminating the burden on the surgical assistant, such as the incision using a traction hook, and reducing the surgery cost due to reduction of the labor cost.

[0075] Furthermore, the base body 2 of the retractor 1 is made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, thereby easily restoring a form of the base body 2 into an extended rectangular shape or a rounded small shape by use of the surgical instrument, after the base body 2 is bent and deformed into a desired form and used. Therefore, the retractor 1 can easily be taken out of the body through the small incision wound.

[0076] In the use state as shown in FIG. 4, the protrusions 7, 7, . . . are present on a cylindrical face C that is the face opposed to the surgical incision in the retractor 1, and the protrusions 7, 7, . . . function as anti-slip protrusions. That is, due to the anti-slip protrusion, the retractor 1 is less likely to be displaced from the surgical incision in the body. This eliminates hindrance of the surgery due to unexpected displacement of the surgical incision, and damaging a non-affected area due to unexpected contact thereto of the surgical instrument or the like. In addition, the surgery can be efficiently performed in a state that the surgical field is assuredly maintained.

[0077] The anti-slip protrusions may be protrusions 8, 8, . . . provided in three rows in the width direction as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 5A, or may be protrusions 9, 9, . . . as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 5B, and are not limited to the form of the present embodiment.

[0078] In addition, as shown in a longitudinal cross-sectional bottom view in FIG. 6, protrusions 7A, 7A, . . . and 7B, 7B, . . . may be provided on both surfaces A, B of the base body 2. According to this form, each of the surfaces A and B can be used as a face that is opposed to the surgical incision, without distinguishing the surfaces A, B from each other.

[0079] Such double-side processing can easily be performed by double-side embossing or the like in which the material is passed between, in pressure contact with, a pair of embossing rolls having recesses and protrusions on the surfaces thereof.

[0080] Further, the protrusions 7, 7, . . . shown in the front view in FIG. 2A and the perspective view in FIG. 4 are provided in a helical manner on the cylindrical face C in FIG. 4 obtained by deforming the base body 2 into a cylindrical shape.

[0081] If the helically arranged protrusions formed on the cylindrical face C are in a right-hand thread arrangement, the retractor 1 advances when rotated clockwise, and the retractor 1 retreats when rotated counterclockwise. If the helically arranged protrusions formed on the cylindrical face C are in a left-hand thread arrangement, the retractor 1 advances when rotated counterclockwise, and the retractor 1 retreats when rotated clockwise.

[0082] Therefore, operation of moving the retractor 1 in an advancing direction or a retreating direction with respect to the surgical incision in the body is facilitated.

[0083] The protrusion in the present invention may be protrusions (the protrusions are separated from one another) independently protruding from the surface A (the cylindrical face C) and the surface B as in the present embodiment, or may be in a form of a continuous line (protruding ridge) or the like.

[0084] The retractor 1 shown in a perspective view in FIG. 7 includes through-holes 10A, 10B in the thickness direction of the base body 2, in end portions in the longitudinal direction U of the base body 2.

[0085] Thus, if a thread is passed through the through-hole 10A or 10B provided in the end portion in the longitudinal direction of the base body 2 and one end of the thread is fixed, and then the other end of the thread is drawn out to the outside of the body through the small incision wound in a use state that the retractor 1 is left in the body, it is possible to assuredly prevent the retractor 1 from being lost in the body.

[0086] In addition, if the base body 2 is easily displaced from the surgical incision in the body, the base body 2 can also be fixed by being fixed to a nearby tissue by means of the thread passed through the through-hole 10A or 10B.

[0087] The retractor 1 shown in a front view in FIG. 8 includes slits 11, 11, which are long in the longitudinal direction U, in a center portion in the longitudinal direction U of the base body 2.

[0088] As shown in a perspective view in FIG. 9, a leading end portion 13 of a surgical hook G is passed through the slits 11, 11, thereby fixing the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G to the base body 2.

[0089] Therefore, the slits 11, 11 function as a fixing means F that fixes the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G to the base body 2.

[0090] In the state shown in FIG. 9, the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G may be tied to the base body 2 by means of a thread. In this case, the thread also functions as the fixing means F.

[0091] The retractor 1 shown in a front view in FIG. 10 includes through-holes 12, 12, . . . in the thickness direction of the base body 2, in a center portion in the longitudinal direction U of the base body 2.

[0092] If a thread 14 is passed through the through-holes 12, 12, . . . shown in FIG. 10 and the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G is tied by means of the thread 14 as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 11, the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G can be fixed to the base body 2.

[0093] Alternatively, if the thread 14 is passed through the through-holes 12, 12, . . . shown in FIG. 10 and the thread 14 is also passed and tied through through-holes 13A, 13A, . . . in the thickness direction provided in the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G as shown in a perspective view in FIG. 12, the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G can be fixed to the base body 2.

[0094] Therefore, the through-holes 12, 12, . . . and the thread 14 function as the fixing means F that fixes the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G to the base body 2.

[0095] The retractor 1 can easily and assuredly be delivered to the surgical incision made in the body during the surgery, in a state that the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G is fixed to the base body 2 by the aforementioned fixing means F to hold the retractor 1 by the surgical hook G. In addition, after the surgery, the retractor 1 can be easily and assuredly taken out of the body through the small incision wound.

[0096] Furthermore, the base body 2 of the retractor 1 is fixed to the leading end portion 13 of the surgical hook G, thereby assuredly preventing the retractor 1 from being lost in the body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE CHARACTERS

[0097] 1 retractor [0098] 2 base body [0099] 3, 4 bent portion [0100] 5, 6 tubular body [0101] 5A, 6A through-hole [0102] 7, 7A, 7B, 8, 9 protrusion [0103] 10A, 10B through-hole [0104] 11 slit [0105] 12 through-hole [0106] 13 leading end portion [0107] 13A through-hole [0108] 14 thread [0109] A, B surface [0110] C cylindrical face [0111] D, E axis parallel to short direction of rectangle [0112] F fixing means [0113] G surgical hook [0114] L length [0115] T thickness [0116] U longitudinal direction [0117] V short direction [0118] W width