Patent Application
20090187195
The present invention is directed to the art of medical instruments, and more particularly to instruments for removal of objects from within a living body.
Commonly objects become lodged in a living body and need to be removed. Various types and sizes of forceps have been used in the past to seize and extract such embedded objects.
The use of forceps for object extraction can be traumatic to cartilage and soft tissue. Forceps are formed of metal or rigid plastic, which are hard and can cause pain and tearing of tissue even when wielded with the gentlest technique possible.
Thus, what is needed is an extractor instrument that is more pliable than metal or rigid plastic and grips objects securely for extraction.
An endoscopic surgical instrument has been proposed, which relies entirely upon vacuum pressure to maintain a grip on the foreign body. For additional details, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,196,003 issued to Bilweis. Because embedded foreign bodies can have irregular shapes or surface textures, vacuum pressure alone is sometimes unreliable in maintaining a grip on the object during extraction. If the object has a hole, such as a bead, the vacuum pressure will be unable to grip the object. Also, because some embedded foreign bodies are easily frangible and because control of the amount of vacuum pressure applied is difficult, reliance on vacuum pressure alone for retention of the object during extraction risks fragmenting the object.
Thus what is needed is an extractor instrument that can secure grip on an object without relying solely on vacuum pressure.
A foreign body extractor has been proposed that has an expandable distal end that sweeps the foreign body out of a passage. For additional details, refer to U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,817 issued to Katz. This extractor is of limited utility since it can only remove a foreign body that is situated with sufficient free space around it to permit the extractor to slide past it before expanding its distal end. Clearly, any foreign body that is wedged tight cannot be addressed with this extractor.
Thus what is needed is an extractor instrument that can apply extracting force to a foreign object without need to slide past the foreign object.
The foreign object extractor is an elongated hollow tube with a central lumen through its entire length. A distal engaging end is shaped to engage a foreign object and has a nominally round transverse cross-section. In an embodiment, the shape of the engaging end flares so as to allow a wider cross section and surface area of the end of the tube to contact the foreign object for engagement with the foreign object. An adhesive is disposed on the exposed flared surface of the distal end. Pneumatic suction is applied through the lumen of the extractor and the suction serves to bring the foreign object into contact with the adhesive coated surface of the extractor.
One aspect of the foreign object extractor is that it is more pliable than metal.
Another aspect of the foreign object extractor is the ability to securely grip an object without relying solely on vacuum pressure.
Yet another aspect of the foreign object extractor is the ability to adhesively grip frangible or hollow articles unsuited to vacuum pressure.
Still another aspect of the foreign object extractor is that it applies extracting force to a foreign object without the need to slide past the foreign object.
Referring to
Although the amount of suction that can be provided at the engaging end 120 is limited by the size of the vacuum bulb 130, this first embodiment extractor 100 has the advantage of being portable so that it is useful away from a sustained vacuum source. Further it is anticipated that this, and the other embodiments illustrated herein are disposable and will be single use only so as to avoid any contamination and transmission of disease or pathogens from one patient to the next.
It should also be noted that in this and other illustrated embodiments, a flared end is illustrated. This is not meant as a limitation since a flared end may not be required for all situations. Yet another embodiment may simply have a tube whose end diameter is the same as the entire tube, but having a sticky end surface that comes in contact with the foreign object.
In addition, it is anticipated that flared ends of varying sizes will be represented by alternate embodiments. The flare size would be selected by the practitioner based on the canal or passage in which the foreign object is embedded and by the shape of the embedded foreign body.
Referring to
The vacuum fitting 230 provides for easy connection to a vacuum line of a vacuum pump. This second embodiment extractor 200 provides for application of a continuous vacuum which may be available from a portable vacuum pump or from a vacuum source in a permanent facility such as an operating or emergency room. Such room suction vacuum lines are common infrastructure that may be utilized in a hospital, clinic, urgent care, or trauma center setting.
Referring to
Similarly as in the second embodiment, the vacuum fitting 330 provides for easy connection to a vacuum line of a vacuum pump or a permanent vacuum source.
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
Referring to
In the embodiments illustrated in
Referring to
While the segmentation of the engaging end 820 will affect the strength of the vacuum force applied to the foreign object, the vacuum force will nevertheless provide some degree of force to cause engagement of a foreign body with the sticky surfaces 852, 862, 872, 882 on the ends of the engaging segments 850, 860, 870, 880. The advantage of segmentation of the engaging end 820 is that it increases the likelihood of obtaining a secure engagement with a foreign object that has an unforeseen, irregular shape. In addition, this segmented shape may be used to further engage surfaces of a more regular object (i.e., such as the surface of a marble, etc.) as illustrated above. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the number of engaging segments illustrated is not meant as a limitation. Depending on the specific situation, the age of the patient, the object to be extracted and other factors, the number of segments of the segmented end will vary.
The segmented end illustrated in
Referring now to
Referring to
Referring to
While the manually-bendable member 1016 is illustrated as a thin strip of embedded metal, this is not meant as a limitation and the manually-bendable member can take other forms, including but not limited to embedded metal wires, adhesively-attached thin metal strips, adhesively-attached metal wires, and remotely-operated devices (e.g., cable actuators). Furthermore, although disclosed in combination, the manually-bendable member 1016 and paddle-shaped grippers 1020 need not be used in combination and can be used individually in other embodiments.
The transverse cross section of the engaging end of the extractor is nominally circular, although it may be embodied as oval or segmented (refer to the third and fifth embodiments described above). The extractor is made in various sizes to provide choice to the health care practitioner for addressing embedded foreign objects of various sizes and shapes. The size variations are provided by different flare angles for the engaging end (refer to
The engaging end has an adhesive disposed on its outer rim or inner rim surfaces of the flared ends to form the sticky surface. The adhesive is a quick curing type that is kept covered until time of use, at which time the protective cover is removed from the sticky surface and the adhesive begins its curing process. The engaging end of the extractor is brought into contact with the object to be removed and suction is applied through the central lumen of the extractor to forcefully urge the object into intimate contact with the sticky surface. This contact is maintained by continued application of vacuum pressure through the extractor until the adhesive has cured. Suction provides pressure for secure adhesion to the foreign object. The object can then be removed from the living body by pulling on the extractor to which the foreign body has become adhered. Additionally to the adhesion, continued application of suction pressure through the extractor may be used to supplement connection of the extractor to the object.
To handle differing extraction situations, the extractor body may be semi-rigid and bendable or totally flexible. The body may be elastically flexible or plastically flexible. In an alternate embodiment, the extractor may be embodied having a rigid body—the rigidity being advantageous in some extraction situations.
While the foreign object extractor has been described in terms of use with a living body, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that this same configuration can be used to extract foreign objects from inanimate objects as well, e.g., when small objects fall in cracks or other inaccessible location. Thus the disclosure herein should not be deemed to be limited to removal of objects from living bodies only.
A foreign object extractor for seizing hold of and extracting a foreign object from a living body has been described. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the scope of the invention disclosed and that the examples and embodiments described herein are in all respects illustrative and not restrictive. Those skilled in the art of the present invention will recognize that other embodiments using the concepts described herein are also possible. Further, any reference to claim elements in the singular, for example, using the articles “a,” “an,” or “the” is not to be construed as limiting the element to the singular.
