Claims
- 1. A surgical stapling instrument comprising:
a frame having a body portion (2, 3) and a handle (4) extending from said body portion (2) in the proximal end region of said instrument (1), a staple fastening assembly (8) in the distal end region of said instrument (1), said staple fastening assembly (8) including a curved cartridge (10), which comprises at least one curved open row (34, 35, 36) of staples (54, 55, 56), and, at the distal end of said instrument (1), a curved anvil (22), which is adapted to cooperate with said cartridge (10) for forming the ends of the staples (54, 55, 56) exiting from said cartridge (10), the staple forming plane (26) of said anvil (22) being arranged transversally with respect to the longitudinal axis (L) of said body portion (3) of said instrument (1), said staple fastening assembly (8) being adapted to allow unobstructed access towards the concave inner faces (40, 41, 42) of said cartridge (10) and of said anvil (22), a cartridge moving device (5, 12, 16, 18) adapted to move said cartridge (10) essentially in parallel relationship towards said anvil (22) from a spaced position for positioning tissue therebetween to a closed position for clamping the tissue, and a staple driving device (6, 52, 53) adapted to drive the staples (54, 55, 56) out of said cartridge (10) towards said anvil (22).
- 2. Stapling instrument according to claim 1, characterized by
a knife (58), which is contained within said cartridge (10) and which is positioned such that there is at least one row (34, 35, 36) of staples (54, 55, 56) on at least one side of the knife (58), and a knife actuating device (6, 52, 53) adapted to move said knife (58) towards said anvil (22).
- 3. Stapling instrument according to claim 2, characterized in that there is at least one row (34; 35, 36) of staples (54; 55, 56) on each side of said knife (58).
- 4. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that said cartridge (10) and said anvil (22) have a generally arc-like shape in the cross-sectional plane, the arc extending over an angle in the range 90° to 270°.
- 5. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said staple fastening assembly (8) includes a curved guide portion (18), wherein said cartridge (10) is mounted for movement between the distal end (19) of said guide portion (18) and said anvil (22).
- 6. Stapling instrument according to claim 5, characterized in that said guide portion (18) and said anvil (22) are rigidly connected by means of at least one arm (20) extending from at least one end of said anvil (22) and generally running in parallel to the longitudinal axis (L) of said body portion (3) of said instrument (1).
- 7. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the distance between said cartridge (10) and said anvil (22) in the closed position is adjustable.
- 8. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that said staple driving device (6, 52, 53) is adapted to simultaneously drive the staples (54, 55, 56) out of said cartridge (10) towards said anvil (22).
- 9. Stapling instrument according to claim 2 or 3 and to claim 8, characterized in that said knife actuating device (6, 52, 53) is adapted to cause said knife (58) to protrude from said cartridge (10) after the staple points have been driven out of said cartridge (10).
- 10. Stapling instrument according to claim 9, characterized in that said staple driving device (6, 52, 53) and said knife actuating device (6, 52, 53) are mechanically coupled for operation via a common trigger (6).
- 11. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 2 to 10 in connection with claim 2, characterized in that said knife (58) is removable.
- 12. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said cartridge moving device (5, 12, 16, 18) includes a trigger lever (5) for actuating the movement of said cartridge (10).
- 13. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that said cartridge moving device includes a threaded shaft coupled to a rotatable knob for actuating the movement of said cartridge.
- 14. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that said anvil (10) has an atraumatically shaped distal end region (24).
- 15. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that said staple fastening assembly (8) is removably mounted in the distal end region (9) of said body portion (2, 3).
- 16. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that said cartridge (10) is removable.
- 17. Stapling instrument according to one of claims 1 to 16, characterized in that the radius of curvature is essentially infinite.
- 18. Staple fastening assembly, characterized by the features of the staple fastening assembly (8) as defined in one of claims 1 to 17.
- 19. Cartridge, which is adapted to the stapling instrument (1) according to claim 16.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
PCT/EP01/03615 |
Mar 2001 |
WO |
|
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is related to the following copending patent applications: application Ser. No. 10/287/066 filed on Nov. 4, 2002.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
10287066 |
Nov 2002 |
US |
Child |
10869103 |
Jun 2004 |
US |