Medtronic Xomed, Inc.

Xomed, Inc.

Mentor Ophthalmics, Inc.

Mark Shapeton

Wayne Johnson

Michael J Crocetta, Jr

A package for a tip, such as a replaceable tip for a bipolar electrosurgical device, is used for insertion of the tip onto and removal of the tip from the end of a device handle, without requiring any direct contact between the user's hand and the tip. The package includes a housing having a tip cavity shaped to receive the tip and an opening through which the end of the handle is insertable for removable attachment to the tip. A releasable locking mechanism, which is releasable in response to the end of the handle being disposed in the opening for removable attachment to the tip, retains the tip in the tip cavity. The package may be made from a single piece of molded material, such as a clear plastic. The package may also be used with monopolar, diathermized and non-bipolar tips, as well as other sharp tips such as cannulae, pics and blades, that are attachable to the end of a handle.

Package for removable device tips

Methods of engaging and releasing a surgical device to a handle

A bipolar electrosurgical device includes electrodes that are part of a tip which removable from a handle. The electrodes are configured for connection to electrical contacts when the tip is attached to the handle, and disconnected from the contacts which the tip is detached. The electrodes are mounted on a housing of the tip so that the proximal ends of the electrodes are spaced from each other. The handle has an opening which receives the housing, and a plurality of contacts disposed for connection to the proximal ends of the electrodes when the housing is inserted into the opening. Because the electrodes themselves provide the connection with the electrical components of the handle, there is no need for a separate electrical connector. The tip and the electrodes are economically disposable after, e.g., a single use, while the handle can be reused in multiple surgical procedures with other tips. An inventory of differently-constructed tips (e.g., tips having straight or curved electrodes, or having variously-configured distal ends) may be provided for use with the handle.

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Chestnut Hill, MA, United States of America

Mark Shapeton