WO1991006248A1

WO1991006248A1 - Handle for surgical instrument and instrument with said handle

Info

Publication number: WO1991006248A1
Application number: PCT/FR1990/000761
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jean-Pierre Logerot
Original assignee: Inomed S.A.
Priority date: 1989-10-24
Filing date: 1990-10-19
Publication date: 1991-05-16
Also published as: FR2653323A1; FR2653323B1

Abstract

A handle suitable for assembly onto the active part of a surgical instrument by the tail or tang of said active part is made in the form of a shell from a plastic material allowing for sterilization at high temperature in a dry atmosphere or at a lower temperature in a humid atmosphere. Internally it comprises elastic means designed to interact with a slot in the said tail or tang (13) to hold the latter with respect to the handle, an ergonomic configuration providing grip (51...) and support surfaces for the surgeon's fingers and palm, and a seal hermetically blocking the opening of cavity (42) inside the shell in which the said tail or tang (13) is housed, and the elastic means for holding the latter.

Description

8

1 HANDLE DEVICE FOR SURGICAL INSTRUMENT AND

INSTRUMENT COMPRISING SUCH A SLEEVE

The subject of the invention is a handle device for a surgical instrument and the instruments comprising such a handle.

We know that many surgical instruments are made by assembling an active part or shaped part, metallic, generally made of finely polished steel, and a handle, itself metallic, most often made by welding two half stainless steel shells stamped to a configuration established by use and to which is often attached the name of a famous practitioner: Leriche valve, Ollier or Pσlosson retractor ..., etc., tradition and use associating with each instrument a particular handle, different from one instrument to another, including for the same type of instrument, for example an abdominal valve and a gynecological valve, etc. An examination of the manufacturing costs of such instruments shows that the handle can, in certain cases, represent from 40 to 60% of the price of the instrument on the one hand, while, on the other hand, the number of parts to be managed by the instrument manufacturer is such that it further increases the costs and also weighs on production costs.

The problem therefore arises, in the field of surgical instruments, to try to rationalize the manufacturing processes, but also those of assembling the active parts of the instruments to the handles which they must necessarily include in order to allow their use.

Given that the latter must also meet imperative criteria of aseptic, ergonomic, ... etc, we come up against the problem posed conflicting requirements if we want to both lower the manufacturing cost , allow easy sterilization in both a dry and a humid atmosphere of the instruments, ensure simple and safe assembly of the handles on the active parts of the instruments and allow standardization as well as, if necessary, exchange and / or replacement of the handle of an instrument of which it is desired to keep the active part.

It is, in general, an object of the invention to provide a handle device which makes it possible to solve the problem posed.

It is, in this regard, an object of the invention to provide such a handle device suitable for equipping most, if not all, of the usual surgical instruments.

It is also an object of the invention to provide such a handle device which assures the surgeon using an instrument which includes it, an ease of grip at least equal, if not greater, than that provided by the usual handles which it usually.

A handle device according to the invention, suitable for being assembled to the active part of a surgical instrument by the tail or silk of said active part, is characterized in that it is produced according to a shell made of a plastic material allowing sterilization at high temperature in a dry atmosphere or at a lower temperature in a humid atmosphere, in that it comprises inside its own elastic means capable of cooperating with a buttonhole of said tail or silk for the maintenance of the latter relative to the handle , in that it has an ergonomic configuration providing gripping and support surfaces for the fingers and palm of the surgeon, and in that it is provided with a seal sealingly sealing the outlet of the internal cavity of the shell in which said tail or silk is housed and the elastic means for holding the latter. According to another characteristic of the invention, the plastic material constituting the handle is chosen from materials inert vis-à-vis the decontamination baths through which the instruments pass before sterilization, on the one hand and, on the other hand, also , such materials which allow sterilization of the instrument equipped with such a handle either at a temperature of the order of 130 ° C in a humid atmosphere, or at a temperature of the order of 200 ° C in a dry atmosphere.

According to yet another characteristic of the invention, the plastic handle is advantageously produced by the assembly of two half-shells, welded to each other preferably by the use of ultrasound.

In a preferred embodiment of a device according to the invention, the seal closing the outlet of the cavity inside the shell is a silicone-based seal also chosen for its good temperature resistance characteristics, that is to say that is to say for its capacity to withstand without deformation or damage a temperature of the order of at least 200 ° C. in a dry atmosphere.

In such an embodiment, also, the elastic means for holding the tail or silk of the active part of the instrument is, most simply, shaped according to a metal spring blade, one end of which is immobilized relative to the handle and whose the other has a spout or hook suitable for cooperating with the buttonhole of the tail or silk, said hook being placed in such a way that it is automatically eclipsed when the tail or silk is introduced into the cavity of the handle, taking advantage of a clearance adjacent to said cavity and then resumes its position immobilization of the tail or silk when it is housed in the buttonhole thereof.

If one chooses for said leaf spring an appropriate metal alloy, for example based on martensitic steel and if one chooses for the active part of the instrument a steel of another type, for example austenitic, then the spring leaf can be, using a magnet, brought into its non-operating condition to release the ₍₍ tail or tang of the handle, for example if one wishes to change the latter for any reason whatsoever .

The invention also has within its scope surgical instruments such as valves, spacers, etc., provided with a handle device as defined above.

The invention will be better understood from the description which follows, given by way of example and with reference to the appended drawing, in which: FIG. 1 is a front view of an instrument provided with a handle according to the invention; Figure 2 is a corresponding side view;

- Figures 3, 4 and 5 are sections along planes 3-3, 4-4, 5-5 of Figures 1 and 2; - Figure 6 is a partial view on a larger scale illustrating the mounting of the active part of the instrument in the handle;

- Figure 7 is a sectional view along line 7-7 of Figure 6; - Figure 8 is a top view in the direction of arrow A in Figure 2, but assuming the active part removed from the instrument.

In the embodiment described and shown of a Leriche valve, this indication of course having no limiting character, the surgical instrument 10 comprises a valve itself made of finely polished steel, itself constituted by a blade 11 shaped as shown in FIG. 2 and which is mounted in a handle 12 by means of a tang or tail 13 which, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, is narrower than the blade 11 and has a window 14 symmetrical with respect to a mean plane, the trace A of which is visible in FIG. 6.

The handle 12 which receives the silk or tail 13 is made, according to the invention, of plastic material and, more precisely, such a material allowing sterilization of the instrument 10 either in a humid atmosphere at a temperature of the order of 130 ° C, or in a dry atmosphere at a temperature of the order of 200 ° C, a nonlimiting example of a suitable material being a polyether sulfone (PES).

The plastic is also chosen, in accordance with the invention, to be inert with respect to the decontamination baths in which the instruments are immersed, before sterilization.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the handle is injection molded according to two semi-shells 20ι and 2O2, Figures 3-5, then joined together by ultrasonic welding, or any other similar process, according to a joint plane 21 Before the welding operation intended to form the handle 12 from the two half-shells, a flat spring leaf 25, FIGS. 6 and 7 is attached to each other, one end 26 of which is curved substantially at right angles and is immobilized in a correspondingly shaped groove 27 of the half-shells and the other end of which is shaped according to a beak or hook 28; the cross section of said spout, as shown in FIG. 7, includes a return 29, substantially orthogonal to the plane of the body 30 of the spring leaf, which continues towards the free end of the leaf by an equally flat face 31, but inclined towards the general direction of the body 30.

As also visible in Figures 6 and 7, the half-shells 20ι and 2Û2 have on their flat end face 40 a counterbore 41 with a rectangular plan outline, Figure 8, the depth of which may be of the order of 0.5 at 1 mm and whose length and width are slightly greater than that of the blade 11. The counterbore 41 thus forms the outlet of a cavity 42 inside the part of the handle close to the blade 11 and which is separated from another cavity 43 reigning over most of the rest of the handle by a bridge 44. The shape of the cavity 42 is partly similar to that of the end of the tail or tang 13 and also has a clearance 45, Figures 2 and 7, suitable for partially receiving the leaf spring 25 for fixing the active part of the instrument.

This is obtained most simply by presenting the free end of the tail or tang 13 opposite the cavity 42 and then making the tail or tang penetrate the handle by a sliding movement; when during this latter, the end edge 13a of the tail or tang 13 comes into contact with the part 31 of the leaf spring 25, it causes the pivoting of this blade around its fixing zone in the handle , the blade returning to its initial position when the window 14 reaches the beak or hook 28. The latter then takes the position shown in FIG. 7 in which it prohibits, by its return part 29, an untimely extraction of the blade 11 relative to handle 12.

The assembly of the active part of the instrument and the handle is then completed by the production, in the counterbore 41, of a seal 50, also made of a material capable of resisting sterilization temperatures, and which is for example a commercial silicone adhesive.

There is thus obtained, by the invention, a handle device suitable for being assembled to any of the tails or bristles of different active parts of surgical instruments.

If, moreover, and as shown in the drawings, the molding of the half-shells 20ι and 2O2 constituting the handle is carried out in order to give said half-shells ergonomic shapes, for example by providing a surface 51 with elliptical outline of thumb support, clearances 52 and 53 substantially in line with the bridge area 44, and an outline as shown in FIG. 1, then the use of an instrument equipped with a handle according to the invention is particularly advantageous. This advantage also contributes to the fact that at the end distant from that for fixing the active part of the instrument, the handle has a hook 54 suitable for fixing the instrument to an operating table or a frame associated with such a table.

Claims

1. Handle device suitable for being assembled to the active part of a surgical instrument by the tail or silk of said active part, characterized in that it is produced according to a shell made of a plastic material allowing sterilization at high temperature in a dry atmosphere or at a lower temperature in a humid atmosphere, in that it comprises inside its elastic means (25) adapted to cooperate with a buttonhole (14) of said tail or silk (13) for the maintenance thereof. in relation to the handle, in that it has an ergonomic configuration providing gripping (51, 52, 53, ...) and support surfaces for the surgeon's fingers and palm, and in that it is provided with a seal (50) sealingly sealing the outlet (41) of the internal cavity (42) of the shell in which is housed said tail or tang (13) and the elastic means (25) for holding this last.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the plastic material constituting the handle is advantageously chosen from inert materials with respect to decontamination baths and such materials which allow sterilization of the instrument equipped with a such sleeve (12) is at a temperature of about 130 ^° C in a humid atmosphere or at a temperature of about 200 "C in a dry atmosphere.

3. Handle device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is produced by assembling two half-shells (20 - * _ and 2θ) welded to one another along a plane seal (21) preferably by using ultrasound.

4. A handle device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the seal (50) closing off a counterbore (41) forming the opening of the cavity (42) for receiving the tail or silk (13) of the active part of the instrument is a silicone-based seal, also chosen for its good temperature resistance characteristics, that is to say for its capacity to withstand without deformation or damage ent a temperature of the order of at least 200 ° C in a dry atmosphere.

5. Handle device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the elastic means for holding the tail or silk (13) of the active part of the instrument consist of a metal spring blade (25) one end of which is immobilized relative to the handle and the other of which has a beak or hook (28) suitable for cooperating with the buttonhole (14) of the tail or silk, said hook being placed in such a way that it is automatically eclipsed during the introduction of said tail or tang into the cavity (42) of conjugate shape of the handle by taking advantage of a clearance (45) adjacent to said cavity, then then resumes its position of immobilization of the tail or tang ( 13) when it is housed in the buttonhole (14) thereof.

6. A handle device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that its constituent plastic material is chosen from sulfonated polyethers (PES).

7. Surgical instrument such as a valve, retractor, or the like, characterized in that it comprises a handle device according to any one of the preceding claims.

8. Surgical instrument according to claim 7, characterized in that the spring leaf is based on martensitic steel and in that the active part of the instrument is made of a steel of another type, for example austenitic.