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:
Dec. 15, 1992
Filed:
Feb. 19, 1991
John T Mehigan, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Pilling Co., Fort Washington, PA (US);
Abstract
A valvulotome for surgically removing venous valves in order to convert a vein into an arterial bypass, comprises a thin, elongated, flexible wire of Nickel-Titanium alloy coated with PTFE and having a head secured to its distal end. The head has a single, narrow, laterally extending arm, with a blade edge facing in the proximal direction and extending transverse to the wire. The head also has a blunt tip projecting in the distal direction and laterally spaced from the wire axis. The head has a pair of edges which are oblique with respect to the wire axis and which converge toward each other so that the width of the head is continuously tapered from locations adjacent to the ends of the blade edge toward the tip. The head has a blunt element adjacent to the end of the blade edge farthest from the wire axis, with at least a portion of said blunt element extending proximally relative to said end of the blade edge. The maximum dimension of the head in the direction perpendicular to a plane defined by the blade edge and the wire axis is less than the maximum dimension of the head in the direction parallel to the blade edge.