Hooked Rod for Improved Delivery of Self-Closure Surgical Devices

Baystate Health, Inc
posted on 03/09/2009

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This invention is an inexpensive, simple to manufacture device to precisely deliver self-closing surgical clips, suture threads or needles through laparoscopic or thorascopic ports as small as 3 mm. This will enable U-clips and other ?shape memory? clips to be used in types of minimally invasive surgery to which they were not previously applicable, particularly in the field of pediatric surgery. Devices such as U-clips are being used more commonly in many types of surgery, but their usefulness is limited in certain types of laparoscopic surgery, particularly in pediatric procedures, where incisions are necessarily small and existing surgical instruments cannot be used to deliver the clip to the site of suturing. This new device, which features a hooked rod housed inside a cylindrical sleeve, enables the delivery of U-clips and other closure devices into ports as small as 3 mm, by hooking the clip to the distal end of the hooked rod, which is then inserted into the sleeve, thus compacting and enclosing the clip. When it has reached the site of suturing, the hooked rod is pushed out of the sleeve, so that the U-clip snaps back into its original shape and can be manipulated with other surgical tools in the suturing process. This device will make it easier to deliver self-closing surgical clips through small incisions. The device can be used in several types of laparoscopic pediatric procedures, including esophageal, duodenal, pancreatic, and intestinal surgery. Furthermore, by making the rod and sleeve from flexible materials, the device could be used in various kinds of endoscopy and other natural orifice surgeries. Baystate Health, Inc. has filed U.S. and PCT patent applications claiming this invention. A paper describing the experimental use of this device in animals has been published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, volume 39 pages 851-854, 2004. Baystate Health, Inc. is offering a worldwide exclusive license to this technology.