Surgical Instrument

Abstract

A surgical instrument including a flexible track operatively connected to a handle and adapted to be extended therefrom into a knee cavity to conform to the interior configuration of the knee cavity, and a blade slidably mounted on the track and constrained to move thereon for cutting damaged or broken cartilage from the knee cavity.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various surgical instruments have been provided for cutting damaged cartilage from the human anatomy. These instruments usually consist of knife members designed for use on the particular portion of the anatomy from which the damaged cartilage is to be removed. While most of these instruments have been satisfactory for their intended purpose, a suitable instrument has not been provided for cutting damaged cartilage from a knee cavity.

After considerable research and experimentation, the surgical instrument of the present invention has been devised for cutting damaged cartilage from a knee cavity and comprises, essentially, a handle portion having an extensible track and cutting blade operatively connected thereto, the track is flexible to conform to the interior configuration of the knee cavity and the cutting blade is constrained to travel on the track whereby the damaged cartilage is cut from the knee cavity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the surgical instrument of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational end view of the instrument;

FIG. 3 is a view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4--4 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the instrument; and

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of the instrument.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, the surgical instrument of the present invention comprises, a housing 1 having longitudinally extending channeled recesses 2 and 3 formed in the side walls thereof. Each recess forms a track in which a respective slide member 4 and 5 is mounted for reciprocatory movement therein, to be described more fully hereinafter.

A longitudinally extending rod 6 is secured to the front wall 1a of the housing and provides an extension thereof, the free end of the rod supporting a pair of laterally spaced post members 7 and 8 interconnected by a transversely extending arm 9.

A pair of parallel, vertically spaced flexible wires 10 and 11 extend through and are slidably mounted in post 8, one end of each wire being secured within post 7 as at 12, the opposite end of the wires being secured to slide member 5.

The construction and arrangement of the flexible wires form a track loop upon which a cutting blade 13 is slidably mounted, the blade being supported on the wires 10 and 11 by a blade holder 14 through which the wires extend. One end of a flexible band 15 is connected to the blade holder 14 and the opposite end of the band is connected to the slide member 4.

To complete the description of the surgical instrument, each slide member 4 and 5 is provided with a respective handle 16 and 17 adapted to be manually moved in the direction of the arrows as shown in FIG. 1, to thereby cause the reciprocatory movement of the respective slide member. Additional handle members 18 of the conventional finger-hole type are provided on the end portion of the housing to facilitate the manipulation of the instrument by the surgeon.

In the use of the surgical instrument for removing cartilage from a knee cavity, the surgeon extends the flexible wires 10 and 11 into the knee cavity by pushing handle 17 and its associated slide 5 forwardly. The flexibility of the wires allows them to conform to the interior configuration of the cavity. While the wires 10 and 11 are maintained in the extended position, the handle 16 and associated slide 4 are pushed forwardly causing the blade holder 14 and blade 13 to slide on the wires, whereby damaged or broken cartilage is cut from the knee cavity. After the cartilage has been cut, the blade 13 is first retracted by moving the handle 16 in the opposite direction, and then the handle 17 is moved rearwardly to retract the wires 10 and 11 from the knee cavity.

It is to be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred example of the same, and that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the subjoined claims

Claims

We claim:

1. A surgical instrument for cutting cartilage from a cavity, comprising, a housing, wire means mounted on said housing, means operatively connected between said housing and said wire means for extending said wire means from said housing into said cavity, said wire means being adapted to conform to the interior of the cavity into which it is inserted, knife means slidably mounted on said wire means, and means operatively connected between said housing and said knife means for sliding said knife means on said wire means.

2. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the wire means comprises a pair of parallel, vertically spaced, flexible wires.

3. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the means for extending the track means comprises, a member slidably mounted on said housing, one end of said wire means being connected to said slide member.

4. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the means for sliding the knife means on the wire means comprises, a slide member slidably mounted on said housing, and a band member having one end connected to said slide member and the opposite end connected to said knife means.

5. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein the knife means comprises a holder slidably mounted on said wire means, and a cutting blade mounted on said holder.

6. A surgical instrument according to claim 1 wherein extension means are connected to one end of said housing, said wire means having one end connected to said extension means, said wire means being bent back upon itself, the reversely bent portion thereof extending through said extension means and into said housing to thereby form a looped track.

7. A surgical instrument according to claim 6 wherein said extension means comprises a rod extending longitudinally of the housing and connected to one end wall thereof, and a pair of laterally spaced post members connected to the free end of said rod, said one end of said wire means being connected to one of said post members, the reversely bent portion of said wire means slidably mounted through the other post member.

8. A surgical instrument according to claim 3, wherein a longitudinally extending channeled recess is formed in the housing, said member being slidably mounted in said recess, and a handle connected to said member to facilitate the manual sliding of said member in said recess.

9. A surgical instrument according to claim 4, wherein a longitudinally extending channeled recess is formed in the housing, said slide member being mounted in said recess, and a handle connected to said slide member to facilitate the manual sliding of said slide member in said recess.