Patent Application
20110270245
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for performing an endoscopic electrosurgical procedure. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an apparatus for performing an endoscopic electrosurgical procedure that employs an endoscopic electrosurgical apparatus that includes an end effector assembly configured for use with variously-sized access ports.
2. Background of the Related Art
Electrosurgical apparatuses (e.g., electrosurgical forceps) are well known in the medical arts and typically include a handle, a shaft and an end effector assembly operatively coupled to a distal end of the shaft that is configured to manipulate tissue (e.g., grasp and seal tissue). Electrosurgical forceps utilize both mechanical clamping action and electrical energy to effect homeostasis by heating the tissue and blood vessels to coagulate, cauterize, fuse, seal, cut, desiccate, and/or fulgurate tissue.
As an alternative to open electrosurgical forceps for use with open surgical procedures, many modern surgeons use endoscopes and endoscopic electrosurgical apparatus (e.g., endoscopic forceps) for remotely accessing organs through smaller, puncture-like incisions. As a direct result thereof, patients tend to benefit from less scarring, less pain, and reduced healing time. Typically, the endoscopic forceps are inserted into the patient through one or more various types of cannulas or access ports (typically having an opening that ranges from about five millimeters to about fifteen millimeters) that has been made with a trocar; as can be appreciated, smaller cannulas are usually preferred.
Endoscopic forceps that are configured for use with small cannulas (e.g., cannulas less than five millimeters) may present design challenges for a manufacturer of endoscopic instruments.
An end effector assembly includes a pair of opposing jaw members. One or more of the jaw members includes a support base, an electrical jaw lead, a sealing plate, and a ceramic layer. The sealing plate is coupled to the electrical jaw lead and mounted to the support base. The sealing plate includes a tissue engaging surface, an opposing surface, and a series of depressions formed within the opposing surface and projecting from the tissue engaging surface. One or more of the series of depressions may have a cross-sectional area that is one or more of circular in shape, hemispherical in shape, and rectangular in shape. In embodiments, two or more of the depressions of the series of depressions have different cross-sections. The series of depressions is formed by one or more of stamping, bending, and machining.
The ceramic layer is deposited atop each of the series of depressions. The ceramic layer may be vapor deposited onto the series of depressions. The ceramic layer may have a thickness between about 10 angstroms and about 500 angstroms. The combination of the depressions that project from the tissue engaging surface and the ceramic layer form a corresponding series of nonconductive stop members for controlling the separation distance between opposing jaw members when closed about tissue.
In one aspect, a method of manufacturing a sealing plate of an end effector assembly includes providing one or more jaw members having a support base, an electrical jaw lead, and a sealing plate coupled to the electrical jaw lead and mounted to the support base. The sealing plate includes a tissue engaging surface and an opposing surface. The method includes forming a series of depressions within the opposing surface of the sealing plate such that the series of depressions project from the tissue engaging surface. On step includes depositing a ceramic layer atop each of the series of depressions to form a corresponding series of nonconductive stop members for controlling the separation distance between opposing jaw members when closed about tissue. In one manner, the depositing step involves vapor deposition in a high volume vacuum chamber. The forming step may involve one or more of stamping, bending, and machining.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Particular embodiments of the present disclosure are described hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure and may be embodied in various forms. Well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure in unnecessary detail. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Like reference numerals may refer to similar or identical elements throughout the description of the figures. As shown in the drawings and described throughout the following description, as is traditional when referring to relative positioning on a surgical instrument, the term “proximal” refers to the end of the apparatus which is closer to the user and the term “distal” refers to the end of the apparatus which is farther away from the user. The term “clinician” refers to any medical professional (i.e., doctor, surgeon, nurse, or the like) performing a medical procedure involving the use of embodiments described herein.
Turning now to
Examples of forceps are shown and described in commonly-owned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/369,894 entitled “VESSEL SEALER AND DIVIDER AND METHOD MANUFACTURING SAME” and commonly owned U.S. application Ser. No. 10/460,926 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,156,846) entitled “VESSEL SEALER AND DIVIDER FOR USE WITH SMALL TROCARS AND CANNULAS.
With regard to
Turning to
The jaw members 310 and 320 also include proximal flanges 313 and 323 extending proximally from the support bases 319 and 329, respectively, each of which includes an elongated angled cam slot 317 and 327, respectively, defined therethrough. Jaw member 320 includes a series of stop members 390 disposed on the inner facing surface of electrically conductive sealing plate 312 to define a gap between opposing jaw members 310 and 320 during sealing and cutting of tissue. The series of stop members 390 are applied onto the sealing plate 312 during manufacturing. The electrically conductive sealing plates 312 and 322 and the insulator plates 319′ and 329′ include respective longitudinally-oriented knife slots 315a, 315a′ and 315b, 315b′, respectively, defined therethrough for reciprocation of the knife blade (not shown).
With reference to
As best shown in
Two types of vapor deposition include chemical vapor deposition (“CVD”) and physical vapor deposition (“PVD”). In a typical CVD process, the substrate is exposed to one or more volatile precursors, which react and/or decompose on the substrate surface to produce the desired deposit. Frequently, volatile by-products are also produced, which are removed by gas flow through a reaction chamber. PVD is a variety of vacuum deposition and is a general term used to describe any of a variety of methods to deposit thin films by the condensation of a vaporized form of the material onto various surfaces. This coating method involves purely physical processes such as high temperature vacuum evaporation or plasma sputter bombardment.
Ceramic layer 520 may be positioned onto the reverse side or top of depressions 512 of the stainless steel layer 510 by vapor deposition, e.g., CVD or PVD. In this instance, the tissue engaging surface or sealing plate 322 of jaw member 320 includes a series of projections that form a structured bore for the ceramic layer 520. Once the projections are formed, the ceramic layer 520 may be vapor deposited onto the stainless steel layer 510 in a high volume vacuum chamber in order to manufacture sealing plate 500 at a high production rate and reduced expense due to the efficiency associated with vapor deposition. Ceramic layer 520 may have a thickness ranging from 10 angstroms to about 500 angstroms. Sealing plate 500, which includes stainless steel layer 510 and ceramic layer 520, may have a thickness ranging from 0.005 inches to 0.008 inches. The resulting effect is that jaw member 320 (or any of the aforementioned jaw members 120, 220) includes a series of stop members 390 that project from one or both jaw members and maintain a gap of about 0.001 inch to about 0.006 inches therebetween.
It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative of the present disclosure. Various alternatives and modifications can be devised by those skilled in the art without departing from the disclosure. Accordingly, the present disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances. The embodiments described with reference to the attached drawings are presented only to demonstrate certain examples of the disclosure. Other elements, steps, methods and techniques that are insubstantially different from those described above and/or in the appended claims are also intended to be within the scope of the disclosure.
