US 12,076,040 B2
Minimally-invasive surgery equipment
Kosuke Ujihira, Okayama (JP)
Assigned to KOSUKE UJIHIRA, Okayama (JP); and NIKKITECH CO., LTD., Okayama (JP)
Filed by Kosuke Ujihira, Okayama (JP); and Nikkotech, co, Ltd., Okayama (JP)
Filed on Mar. 21, 2023, as Appl. No. 18/187,611.
Application 18/187,611 is a continuation of application No. 17/593,043, granted, now 11,642,148, previously published as PCT/JP2019/019031, filed on May 14, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/817,462, filed on Mar. 12, 2019.
Prior Publication US 2023/0277202 A1, Sep. 7, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 17/29 (2006.01); A61B 17/00 (2006.01)
CPC A61B 17/29 (2013.01) [A61B 2017/003 (2013.01); A61B 2017/2908 (2013.01); A61B 2017/2929 (2013.01)] 12 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A surgical device comprising a manipulable handle that is held by a user, a surgical instrument that is held at a desired position and orientation relative to the manipulable handle, and a linking part that links the manipulable handle and the surgical instrument, wherein:
the linking part comprises:
two or more joint members (7, 8) that are connected in series in the longitudinal direction of the linking part, and are held so as to be capable, when the central axes of the joint members are aligned, of moving toward or away from each other along said central axis; and
a surgical-instrument-controlling flexible shaft member that is inserted through the interior of the entire length of the linking part along the central axis thereof, fixed to the surgical instrument at one end, and connected to the manipulable handle at the other end;
wherein the two or more joint members (7, 8) form a first joint that enables relative rotation of the two or more joint members (7, 8) around an axis orthogonal to the central axis;
wherein the flexible shaft member is driven by the manipulable handle so that the two or more joint members (7, 8) are driven towards each other, and the joint members (7, 8) are engaged and locked to fix the angle of the first joint around the axis orthogonal to the central axis, thereby disposing the surgical instrument at the desired relative position and orientation; and
the first joint comprises,
on facing arms of the two or more joint members (7,8), a recessed part (7a) that is provided on one joint member (7) and a projecting part (8b) that is provided on the other joint member (8), is inserted into the recessed part (7a), and is capable of rotating within the recessed part (7a), wherein, multiple sunken parts (7e, 7e′) are configured to allow a tapered part (8g) of the projecting part (8b) to enter at an innermost part of the recessed part (7a), and, when the joint members (7,8) move toward each other, one of the multiple sunken parts (7e, 7e′) of the recessed part (7a) and the tapered part (8g) of the projecting part (8b) are engaged to lock the angle of rotation between the joint members (7,8) at a prescribed angle, and, when the joint members (7,8) move away from each other, the multiple sunken parts (7e, 7e′) of the recessed part (7a) and the tapered part (8g) of the projecting part (8b) are disengaged and the joint members (7,8) are unlocked; and
further comprise a stopper mechanism (7g, 10) that, when the multiple sunken parts (7e, 7e′) of the recessed part (7a) and the tapered part (8g) of the projecting part (8b) are disengaged, prevents the projecting part (8b) from being dislodged from the recessed part (7a) and limits the relative rotation of the projecting part (8b) relative to the recessed part (7a) to within a prescribed angle.