Claims
- 1. A surgical apparatus comprising:an insertion assembly having a handle and a substantially rigid elongate member attached to said handle and extending distally from said handle; and an elongate balloon carried by said insertion assembly, said balloon having a deflated state and an inflated state, said balloon having an open space extending transversely through said balloon across a longitudinal axis of said insertion assembly.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elongate balloon has an elongated torus shape.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a blunt tip attached to a distal end of said elongate member.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a spoon-shaped dissector attached to a distal end of said elongate member.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said spoon-shaped dissector has a notch in its distal end.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a spoon-shaped dissector attached to a distal end of said insertion assembly.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 6 wherein said spoon-shaped dissector has a notch in its distal end.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elongate member is a guide rod.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elongate member is a tube.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said elongate member is an endoscope.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising at least one support member attached to said balloon, said at least one support member adapted to couple with said handle.
- 12. A surgical apparatus comprising:an insertion assembly having a handle and a substantially rigid first elongate support member attached to said handle and extending distally from said handle, and a second elongate support member; an elongate balloon carried by said insertion assembly and attached to said first and second support members, said balloon having a deflated state and an inflated state, said balloon in its inflated state having an open space extending transversely through said balloon and between said first and second support members; and a shroud having a proximal end and a distal section, the proximal end of the shroud being attached to a distal end of a rigid elongate member distally extendable from said handle through said first and second support members, the distal section of the shroud spaced apart from a distal end of said second support member to form an open space therebetween.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/187,879; filed Nov. 6, 1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,179,854, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/927,371, filed on Sep. 9, 1997 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,893,866, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/815,398, filed on Mar. 10, 1997 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/688,044, filed on Jul. 29, 1996 now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/447,124, filed on May 22, 1995 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,417. The priority of the prior applications are expressly claimed, and the disclosure of each of these prior applications is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
US Referenced Citations (28)
Continuation in Parts (4)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08/927371 |
Sep 1997 |
US |
Child |
09/187879 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/815398 |
Mar 1997 |
US |
Child |
08/927371 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/688044 |
Jul 1996 |
US |
Child |
08/815398 |
|
US |
Parent |
08/447124 |
May 1995 |
US |
Child |
08/688044 |
|
US |