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:
Sep. 22, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 31, 1995
Applicant:
Inventor:
Richard J Mackool, Astoria, NY (US);
Assignee:
Other;
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B / ;
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
606167 ; 606166 ; 606172 ; 30351 ; 30357 ;
Abstract
A surgical knife has a blade portion including a sharp edge disposed in a first plane and a dull portion offset from the first plane by a selected amount substantially equal to the amount of desired lengthening. When the blade is inserted into a previously-formed incision in tissue and moved in the direction of desired lengthening, the sharp edge cuts the tissue to lengthen the incision until the dull portion abuts against a wall of the incision to prevent further travel of the blade. The dull portion thus acts as a 'stop' which prevents further travel of the blade beyond a desired point, enabling controlled lengthening of the incision.