Ethicon, Gmbh

Barbara Howard

Gene W Kammerer

Royce L Frederick

Edd Walker

Edward E Walker

Royce L Ferderick

C Ray Britt

A surgical tissue retrieval instrument has a collapsible pouch at the distal end of an elongated support tube for retrieving internal body tissue through a trocar tube. The instrument includes a belt which is formed into a loop slidably attached about the open end of the pouch. The belt is slidably extendable through the support tube for expanding the open end of the pouch to receive the tissue and retractable into the support tube for drawing the open end of the pouch closed to enclose the tissue in the pouch. The belt has an oblong, e.g., rectangular, cross section oriented with its larger cross-sectional dimension perpendicular to the plane of the loop to provide stability at the open end of the pouch and to enable use of the pouch in a scoop-like manner to place the tissue therein. A portion of the belt is thermally set into a curved configuration to urge the loop into a normally expanded shape with the belt extended from the distal end of the support tube. A belt actuator mechanism includes a reciprocating finger grip and a ratchet mechanism which operates in a toggle-like manner to advance and retract the belt along the support tube to open and close the pouch. The pouch has an elongated tapered shape to align the tissue with the length or depth of the pouch to facilitate the withdrawal of the pouch and tissue through an incision at the trocar site.

Surgical tissue retrieval instrument

A medical device for ligation or approximating tissue is disclosed. The device has a cannula with proximal and distal ends. The distal end of the cannula has a beveled surface, and the cannula has first and second channels, the first channel extending axially through it, and the second channel extending from the beveled surface to the first channel. The device includes a suture with a slide end and a distal loop, as well as a slip knot securing the loop to the slide end. The slide end is threaded thorough the first and second channels of the cannula and it protrudes from the proximal end of the cannula. In addition, the device incorporates means for securing the positioning of the slide end of the suture in the first channel of the cannula. The device may optionally have a frangible proximal end wherein the proximal end of the suture is mounted to the frangible proximal end. The device is particularly well adapted for use during endoscopic surgery when it is necessary to perform operative procedures through small openings in the body. The device is easy to maneuver and to position, and does not require the user to make the suture knot outside the body.

Endoscopic suturing device

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Plainfield, NJ, United States of America

Barbara Howard