The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jan. 03, 2023
Filed:
Dec. 09, 2020
Alcon Inc., Fribourg, CH;
Paul R. Hallen, Colleyville, TX (US);
Alcon Inc., Fribourg, CH;
Abstract
The present disclosure generally relates to surgical instruments having adjustable stiffness, and more particularly, surgical instruments having adjustable stiffness for ophthalmic surgical procedures. In one embodiment, a surgical instrument includes a probe, a slidable support sleeve, and a rotatable knob. A stiffness level of the probe may be adjusted by rotating the knob, thereby causing linear displacement of the support sleeve along a length of the probe. The knob may further include a dial depicting a series of settings representing different eye sizes and corresponding to preset positions of the support sleeve relative to the probe. Thus, a user may select an optimal stiffness of the probe for a particular eye size by rotating the knob to the corresponding setting.