Surgical extractor with closely angularly spaced individual filaments
US5496330A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Jun 10, 1994 |
| Grant date | Mar 5, 1996 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jun 10, 2014 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61F2210/0019
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A surgical extractor for removing calculi, such as kidney stones and gall stones, from the body. The extractor includes a handle at an proximal end of the extractor with a slider for operation by a physician. At the distal end the extractor includes a plurality of pairs of wires with portions of each pair being formed along the turn of a helix. When a retaining sheath is retracted, the wires, formed of a shape memory material such as stainless steel, expand such that each pair of wires closely assumes a path along a helical turn with individual wires remaining closely adjacent. This use of plural wires for each strand multiples the number of contacts with entrapped calculi and can be provided without any deleterious effect on the reliability or size of the extractor.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.