Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company

Ulf B Dunberger

Thomas D Egan

Larry H Dodge

James R Watts

H Aaron Christmann

Harpreet Kaur

Kenneth E Merte

An irrigation system for use in endoscopic procedures for maintaining and controlling flow of irrigation fluid to an internal body irrigation site. The system includes a tubing set comprising inflow and outflow lines and a cassette, and an fluid control module comprising a race and a pumping mechanism that squeezes the inflow line of the tubing set against the race to pump fluid to the irrigation site. The cassette includes a through opening exposing a portion of the inflow line to the race and pumping mechanism so that the cassette merely holds the inflow line in alignment with the pumping mechanism but is not required to resist the compressive force of the pumping mechanism. The cassette may include a second through opening exposing a portion of the outflow line to a valve mechanism to regulate pressure independently of the pump mechanism, and rib-or-groove alignment mechanism to align the inflow line with the pumping mechanism and the outflow line with the valve mechanism.

Irrigation system with tubing cassette

The present invention provides a tubing set in cassette form and an irrigation system employing the cassette and tubing set for use in endoscopic procedures. The tubing set includes a generally arcuate cassette which is inserted into the pump housing to effect a change in tubing sets between procedures. A valve assembly and flattened tubing segment are preferably used to provide pressure control/relief in the tubing set/irrigation system. Also provided in combination with the preferred cassette is a fitting for coupling a pressure monitoring line with pressure monitoring equipment in the irrigation system.

An irrigation system including a pump that regulates the supply of fluid to an endoscopic surgical site, and a tubing set for supplying the fluid. The tubing set comprises an inflow line for supplying fluid to the surgical site, and an outflow line for draining fluid from the surgical site. At least one of the inflow and outflow lines includes an expandable compliant tubing segment that expands to accommodate changes in the rate of fluid flow through the surgical site to reduce variations in fluid pressure in the surgical site. The fluid volume within the compliant tubing segment increases in response to increasing fluid pressure within the compliant tubing segment. The system is particularly designed for use in small joint arthroscopy (e.g., of the wrist) where the fluid volume in the surgical site is relatively small.

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Portsmouth, NH, United States of America

Ulf B Dunberger