Patent Application
20060111696
(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to a malleable length of tubing that is primarily intended for use with ophthalmic surgery instruments. More specifically, the present invention pertains to a length of tubing having opposite proximal and distal ends, where the proximal end is adapted for connection to a surgical light source or a surgical fluid source, and the distal end is adapted for attachment to an ophthalmic surgery instrument. The tubing has an interior bore that extends along the length of the tubing. A length of wire is secured to the tubing along the tubing length. The wire is malleable, and bending the wire holds the tubing in the bent configuration of the wire.
In alternate embodiments of the tubing, the length of wire is secured to an interior surface of the tubing interior bore, or is contained in the side wall of the tubing between the bore interior surface and the tubing exterior surface. Both embodiments of the invention may also include manually operable clips and/or moveable supports on the tubing.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In many ophthalmic surgery procedures, it is necessary that a light source be provided to illuminate the interior of the eye, and that an additional surgical instrument be provided that can provide either aspiration, liquid infusion, or both to the interior of the eye. In addition to the above, it is also often necessary that a separate incision be provided in the eye that receives the ophthalmic surgery instrument being manipulated by the surgeon. Each of these instruments secured to the eye typically have a length of tubing that extends from the instrument. For example, the light provided to the interior of the eye is typically transmitted by a length of tubing containing one or more optic fibers. The tubing distal end is secured to the eye with the optic fiber distal end extending into the eye. The tubing proximal end is communicated with a light source. Aspiration and/or infusion of the eye interior is typically provided by a length of tubing secured to the eye at its distal end and communicating with a source of aspiration and/or infusion at its opposite proximal end. Often the surgical instrument being used by the surgeon also has a length of tubing extending from the instrument. For example, a microsurgical laser probe has a length of tubing containing the optic fiber length that conducts the laser light to the instrument.
It can be appreciated that the multiple lengths of tubing extending from the small area of the eye surgical site make it difficult for the surgeon to easily access the surgical site, and can add to the difficulty and mental strain of the surgeon in performing the surgery. Any modification to a microsurgical instrument that can organize the multiple lengths of tubing extending to the surgical site and simplify accessing the surgical site by the surgeon would provide a significant contribution to the field of ophthalmic surgery.
The present invention seeks to control the positioning of one or more lengths of tubing extending to a ophthalmic surgery site, and thereby facilitate the surgeon's access to the surgical site. Basically, the present invention provides a length of malleable ophthalmic surgery tubing that may be used with a variety of different microsurgical instruments. For example, the malleable tubing of the invention may be used with a microsurgical laser probe, an illuminator, and an aspiration/infusion cannula, to name only a few examples of surgical instruments with which the tubing of the invention may be used.
The malleable ophthalmic surgery tubing is provided in any desired length that extends between opposite proximal and distal ends of the tubing. The distal end of the tubing is adapted for attachment to a surgical instrument such as the types described earlier. The proximal end of the tubing is adapted for attachment to a connector that connects the tubing proximal end to a source of illumination, aspiration and/or liquid infusion. The tubing has a hollow interior bore that extends along the length of the tubing. The interior bore is dimensioned to receive a length of optic fiber where the tubing is used with a source of illumination and a surgical instrument that provides light to the surgical site. In addition to the length of optic fiber, or in place of the length of optic fiber, the tubing interior bore also conducts aspiration and/or infused liquids between a source and the surgical site. The tubing is flexible along a majority of its length, and in particular the portion of the tubing length adjacent the surgical instrument. This enables the surgeon to easily manipulate the majority of the length of tubing.
The surgical tubing of the present invention differs from prior art tubing in that a length of wire is secured to the tubing along the tubing length. The wire is bendable into a bent configuration or shape, where the wire holds the tubing in the bent configuration or shape of the wire. This enables the portion of the tubing length adjacent the surgical site to be bent and moved to a position relative to the site where the length of the tubing does not interfere with easy access to the surgical site. In this manner, the malleable ophthalmic surgery tubing of the present invention facilitates the surgeon's access to the surgery site.
Further features of the malleable ophthalmic surgery tubing of the invention are set forth in the following detailed description of the invention and in the following drawing figures wherein:
As shown in
The illuminator tip 14 has a curved base plate 28 that is adapted to be secured to the surface of the eye at a desired surgical site. A tubular cannula 32 projects a short distance from the concave surface of the base plate 28. A hollow collar 34 projects from the opposite convex surface of the base plate 28. The interior bores of the cannula 32 and collar 34 receive a distal end portion 36 of the optic fiber 16.
The optic fiber 16 extends from its distal end portion 36 through the malleable ophthalmic tubing 24 of the invention, through a Y-connector 42, and through the optic tubing 18 to the proximal end portion of the optic fiber contained in a light source connector 44. The particular light source connector 44 shown in
A manually operable clip 46 is attached to the optic tubing 18. The clip 46 includes a sleeve 48 mounted around the optic tubing 18. The sleeve 48 is dimensioned to slide over the exterior surface of the optic tubing 18. The clip 46 is operable to removably secure the optic tubing 18 and the surgical instrument 12 to a separate object to support the instrument. As is conventional, with the light source connector 44 connected to a source of light, the optic fiber 16 transmits the light through the surgical instrument 12 to the distal end portion 36 of the optic fiber where the light is projected on the surgical site.
The fluid tubing 22 extends from its distal end connected to the Y-connector 42 to its proximal end connected to a fluid source connector 52. The fluid source connecter 52 shown in
The malleable ophthalmic tubing 24 of the invention has a length with opposite proximal 56 and distal 58 ends. The overall length of the malleable tubing 24 can be chosen to best suit the instrument 12 for the particular surgical procedure for which it is to be used. The tubing 24 has an interior bore 62 that extends through the entire length of the tubing. The interior bore 62 is defined by a cylindrical interior surface 64 of the tubing. The tubing also has an opposite, generally cylindrical exterior surface 66. The tubing 24 is preferably constructed of a flexible material such as silicone. In the preferred embodiment the material is constant along the length of the tubing 24 and between the tubing interior surface 64 and exterior surface 66. In variant embodiments, other layers of materials may be added to reinforce the ophthalmic tubing or otherwise change the properties of the tubing. However, these variations of the tubing would not detract from the ability of the tubing to be bent and hold its bent configuration to be described.
The malleable ophthalmic tubing 24 of the present invention differs from tubing of the prior art in that it is provided with a length of wire 72 that is secured to the tubing. The length of wire 72 extends along the tubing between a proximal end 74 of the wire at the tubing proximal end 56 and a distal end 76 of the wire at the tubing distal end 58. In the preferred embodiment, the wire 72 is a single stand of copper wire, although other types of materials may be employed. The single strand of wire 72 is preferred as it facilitates the ability of the surgeon to bend the wire in any desired configuration. In equivalent embodiments, multiple wires and braided wires could be used in lieu of the single wire 72. As seen in
With the construction of the microsurgical instrument 12 described above, it can be seen that the malleable ophthalmic tubing 24 can be bent into any desired configuration by the surgeon and remain in that configuration. This enables the surgeon to configure and position the length of tubing 24 in any of a plurality of desired configurations and/or positions to provide unobstructed access to the surgical site.
The instrument tip 84, similar to the previously described embodiment, has a curved base plate 94 adapted for attachment to the surface of the eye at the desired surgical site. A cylindrical collar 96 projects from one side of the base plate 94. A hollow interior bore extends through both the collar 96 and the base plate 94 and receives a distal end portion 98 of the optic fiber 86.
The length of tubing 88 extends from the instrument tip collar 96 to a light source connector 102 at the opposite end of the tubing. As explained earlier, the light source connector 102 is only one type of connecter with which the surgical instrument 82 may be provided.
As in the previously described embodiment, the surgical instrument 82 is also provided with a manually operated clip 104 mounted by a sleeve 106 for movement along a portion of the length of the tubing 88.
Additionally, a V-shaped stabilizer 108 is mounted on the tubing 88 for sliding movement. The stabilizer 108 has a pair of bendable legs 110 that can be bent to conform to a surface to which the legs can be attached by surgical tape or other equivalent means.
As in the previously described embodiment, the length of tubing 88 has an interior bore 112 that is defined by a cylindrical interior surface 114 of the tubing. The bore 112 extends through the entire length of the tubing and provides a protective surrounding for the optic fiber 86. The side wall of the tubing is defined between the tubing cylindrical interior surface 114 and a cylindrical exterior surface 116 of the tubing.
The malleable portion of the tubing 96 is defined by a length of wire 122 contained in the portion of the tubing. The length of wire 122 is a single strand of wire that extends from a proximal end 124 of the wire to an opposite distal end 126 of the wire. The wire proximal end 74 defines the proximal end 128 of the malleable portion of the tubing and the wire distal end 76 defines the distal end 132 of the malleable portion of the tubing. This embodiment of the malleable tubing differs from the previously described embodiment in that an intermediate portion of the wire 72 is not secured to the tubing 92, but is free to move in the tubing interior bore 112. The entire length of the wire 122 extends through the tubing interior bore 112 and only the wire proximal end 124 and distal end 126 are secured to the tubing interior surface 114 by adhesives or other equivalent means. The length of wire 122 secured in the malleable portion of the tubing 92 enables the tubing portion to be bent in any desired configuration by the surgeon and positioned to provide the surgeon with unobstructed access to the surgical site.
While the present invention has been described by reference to specific embodiments, it should be understood that modifications and variations of the invention may be constructed without departing from the scope of the invention defined by the following claims.
