Self-contained powered surgical apparatus

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical clips to body tissue comprising:

a) an elongate body having an internal cavity formed therein, defining a longitudinal axis and housing a plurality of surgical clips;

b) a jaw assembly supported at a distal end portion of the elongate body and including a pair of opposed cooperating jaw members actuable to move between an open position and a closed position with respect to the longitudinal axis of the body;

c) an electric motor assembly mounted within the internal cavity of the elongate body;

d) a clip pusher slidably supported in the elongate body adjacent the plurality of surgical clips and actuable to individually advance the surgical clips into the jaw assembly;

e) an elongate actuation mechanism disposed within the elongate body, driven by the motor assembly, and mounted to translate longitudinally through the elongate body upon actuation of the motor assembly to drive the clip pusher and actuate the jaw assembly; and

f) an electrical power source disposed within the internal cavity of the elongate body and electrically connected to the motor assembly for energizing the motor assembly to drive the actuation mechanism.

2. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the opposed cooperating jaw members depend from respective first and second opposed cantilevered camming beams which are connected to one another at proximal ends thereof.

3. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 2, wherein the actuation mechanism defines an actuation channel which includes opposed upstanding camming walls which engage the first and second opposed camming beams as the actuation mechanism translates with respect thereto to actuate the jaw assembly.

4. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the clip pusher has an elongate slot formed therein and the actuation mechanism includes an actuation channel having an upstanding flange positioned adjacent a proximal end thereof for slidably engaging the slot.

5. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the clip pusher is operatively connected to and advanced by the actuation mechanism.

6. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 5, wherein the actuation mechanism includes an actuation channel and wherein upon actuation of the motor assembly the clip pusher and actuation channel initially move distally and subsequently the actuation channel moves distally and the clip pusher remains stationary.

7. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 6, further comprising an axial drive screw connecting the actuation channel to the motor assembly.

8. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 7, wherein the clip pusher includes a stop block which interacts with an abutment surface defined in the internal cavity of the elongate body for limiting distal movement of the clip pusher.

9. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the elongate slot formed in the clip pusher includes a proximal section configured to inhibit relative movement of the clip pusher and actuation channel by frictionally retaining the upstanding flange and a distal section configured to accommodate relative movement of the clip pusher and the actuation channel by affording free movement of the upstanding flange therethrough.

10. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 4, wherein the upstanding flange includes an enlarged upper portion configured to contact the periphery of the slot to inhibit relative movement of the clip pusher and actuation channel and a tapered lower portion configured to slide through the slot to facilitate relative movement of the clip pusher and actuation channel.

11. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the actuation mechanism includes an axial drive screw driven by the motor assembly.

12. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 11, wherein the actuation mechanism includes an actuation channel and the axial drive screw includes a mounting flange to engage the actuation channel.

13. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 12, wherein the actuation channel includes an upstanding engagement structure positioned adjacent a proximal end thereof and having a threaded bore extending therethrough for threadably engaging the axial drive screw.

14. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the elongate body includes a first actuator button electrically connected to the motor assembly for effecting distal translation of the actuation mechanism and a second actuator button electrically connected to the motor assembly for effecting proximal translation of the actuation mechanism.

15. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 14, further comprising an elongate extension shaft configured for engagement with a proximal end of the elongate body to facilitate utilization of the apparatus during an endoscopic surgical procedure.

16. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 15, wherein the elongate extension shaft includes means connecting with the first and second actuator buttons to effectuate remote operation of the apparatus.

17. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 16, wherein the means connecting with the first and second actuator buttons comprises a pair of elongate rod members mounted for longitudinal movement within the extension shaft.

18. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the elongate body has a substantially uniform diameter.

19. A powered surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the elongate body has an operative length of less than 10.0 inches.

20. A surgical apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising means positioned within the elongate body adjacent the surgical clips for biasing the surgical clips toward the distal end of the elongate body.

21. A self-contained powered surgical apparatus for applying surgical clips to body tissue comprising:

a) an elongate body having an internal cavity formed therein, defining a longitudinal axis, and housing a plurality of surgical clips;

b) a pair of jaws extending from a distal end portion of the elongate body, the jaws being relatively moveable between open and closed positions and supporting a surgical clip advanced therebetween;

c) clip advancing means movably supported within the elongate body adjacent the plurality of surgical clips for individually advancing the surgical clips into the pair of jaws;

d) jaw moving means disposed within the elongate body and mounted to translate relative to the jaws for moving the jaws between open and closed positions;

f) an electric motor assembly disposed within the internal cavity of the elongate body and operatively connected to the clip advancing means and the jaw moving means for translating the clip advancing means to feed a clip into the jaws and for actuating the jaw moving means