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:
Jul. 22, 2003
Filed:
Jan. 31, 2000
Steve Griffiths, Ellicott City, MD (US);
Christopher R. Clare, Los Altos Hills, CA (US);
Ethicon, Inc., Somerville, NJ (US);
Abstract
An apparatus for controlling the volume of surgical fluid present in a cavity of the body during surgery includes a fluid pump for pumping surgical fluid to the cavity via a conduit. A dampener is disposed between the pump and the cavity, with the dampener receiving the fluid output of the pump and having a pressure sensitive volumetric capacity, therefor such that variations in output volume of the pump are diminished by the dampener, the output of which is directed to the cavity. The dampener may be in the form of a hollow chamber into which surgical fluid flows trapping a selected quantity of gas thereabove with the gas quantity being determined by a vent valve. A hydrophobic filter or a float valve may be employed as the vent valve.