INTRAOCULAR IRRIGATOR-ASPIRATOR TIP COMPONENT
An ophthalmic irrigator-aspirator has a handpiece with aspiration and irrigation openings through its distal end. A tip component connects to the handpiece and has an aspiration cannula. A flexible sleeve has an annular hub for watertight connection to the handpiece or a base portion of the tip. The sleeve has an intermediate portion that forms a channel for an irrigation fluid along the exterior of the cannula to an irrigation port in the sleeve. The distal end portion of the sleeve is sized for a watertight connection over the distal portion of the cannula. Such distal end portion of the sleeve has an aspiration port in communication with the cannula aspiration port. The sleeve proximate, intermediate, and distal portions are integral with each other and are formed of a resilient material that allows the sleeve to be tightly fitted on the handpiece or tip base portion and the cannula.
This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/557,709, filed on Aug. 30, 2019, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/207,337, filed on Jul. 11, 2016, and issued on Sep. 10, 2019 as U.S. Pat. No. 10,406,275, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/856,359, filed Sep. 16, 2015, and issued on Jul. 12, 2016 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,387,121, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/559,649, filed Dec. 3, 2014, and issued on Sep. 22, 2015 as U.S. Pat. No. 9,138,347, which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/046,777, filed Oct. 4, 2013, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No. 61/759,560, filed Feb. 1, 2013, and Provisional Application No. 61/710,610, filed Oct. 5, 2012, the disclosures of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUNDThe present invention pertains to an improved irrigator-aspirator tip component of the type inserted into the lens capsule of an eye, such as for removing cortical material, washing, cleaning and/or polishing.
SUMMARYThis summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.
In accordance with the present invention, a unitary, one-piece sleeve is provided for an ophthalmic irrigator-aspirator instrument of the type having a handpiece with an aspiration opening through the distal end thereof and one or more irrigation openings adjacent to the aspiration opening The instrument includes an elongated, narrow tip projecting from the handpiece distal end, such tip having an internal bore communicating with the handpiece aspiration opening and an aspiration port at or adjacent to a distal end of the tip. The novel sleeve has a proximate annular hub portion constructed and arranged to be manually connected to a distal end portion of the hand piece in a watertight fit, with the sleeve surrounding the tip. An intermediate portion of the sleeve forms a channel for an irrigation fluid between the exterior of the tip and the interior portion of the sleeve. The channel is in communication with the handpiece irrigation opening and an irrigation port adjacent to the distal end of the sleeve, for conveying the irrigation fluid through the channel and ejecting it from the irrigation port of the sleeve. The distal end portion of the sleeve is sized for connection over the distal portion of the tip in a watertight fit at a location between the sleeve irrigation port and the aspiration port of the tip. Such distal end portion of the sleeve has an aspiration port located to be in communication with the tip aspiration port. The sleeve proximate, intermediate, and distal portions are integral with each other and are formed of a resilient material that allows the sleeve to be manually stretched onto the handpiece and tip
The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein
With reference to
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a one-piece or unitary sleeve 24 of a soft, resilient material, such as silicone rubber, is provided for fitting tightly over the tip 14 and the distal end portion of the handpiece 10 to which the tip has been joined.
With reference to
The diameter of an intermediate portion of the sleeve 24 gradually decreases along the length of the tip 14, being sized to form an annular channel 34 which is in communication with the handpiece irrigation channel 22. Moving still farther m a distal direction, the wall thickness of the sleeve lessens to increase the overall flexibility of the sleeve in the area where it will protrude through a corneal incision.
The details of the distal-most portion of the sleeve 24 and inner tip 14 are best seen in
Still referring to
As best seen in
For both illustrated embodiments it is important that the sleeve 24/24′ be fully inserted on the tip 14/14′, and for both embodiments it is important that the sleeve be correctly aligned or registered with the tip.
In addition, the construction of the modified sleeve 24″ and handpiece 10′ help assure that the sleeve will be fully stretched over the tip and handpiece to the desired degree, and no more The proximate end of the sleeve will abut against the face 54 of the handpiece extension 52, and, as seen in
The hub or base 62 can be formed of a rigid plastic material. The composite tip 60 includes a rigid (preferably surgical grade stainless steel or titanium) cannula 64 projecting distally from the hub or base 62. The cannula is fixed in the base, such as by overmolding during manufacturing. As seen in
As best seen m
This embodiment includes a thin-walled resilient sleeve 24″ similar to the sleeves previously described. The proximate end portion (hub) 74 of sleeve 24″ can be fitted tightly over the stem 70 of the composite tip component 60. As best seen in
As best seen in
Although this embodiment shows an end port for the cannula, the cannula and sleeve can be modified similar to the embodiment of
While illustrative embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. (canceled)
2. A sleeve for an ophthalmic instrument, the sleeve comprising:
- a hub portion configured to connect, in a watertight fit, to an ophthalmic instrument having an irrigation channel and an aspiration port;
- an intermediate portion projecting from the hub portion;
- a distal portion projecting from the intermediate portion and having an irrigation port; and
- a distal end portion projecting from the distal portion and having an aspiration port, wherein the aspiration port of the distal end portion is configured to be in fluid communication with the aspiration port of the ophthalmic instrument;
- wherein the intermediate portion and the distal portion form an annular channel configured to be in fluid communication with the irrigation port of the distal portion and the irrigation channel of the ophthalmic instrument.
3. The sleeve of claim 2, further comprising a bend in the distal portion of the sleeve disposed between the intermediate portion of the sleeve and the distal end portion of the sleeve.
4. The sleeve of claim 3, wherein the irrigation port of the distal portion of the sleeve is disposed between the bend and the distal end portion of the sleeve.
5. The sleeve of claim 3, wherein the bend is configured to be disposed adjacent to or overlapping with an edge of the irrigation port of the distal portion of the sleeve.
6. The sleeve of claim 2, further comprising an aspiration cavity configured to be in fluid communication with and disposed between the aspiration port of the distal end portion of the sleeve and the aspiration port of the ophthalmic instrument.
7. The sleeve of claim 6, wherein the distal end portion of the sleeve comprises an annular shoulder configured to fluidly seal the aspiration cavity to the aspiration port of the ophthalmic instrument.
8. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein the aspiration port of the distal end portion of the sleeve is disposed along a sidewall of the distal end portion of the sleeve.
9. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein the hub portion of the sleeve comprises a wall thickness greater than a wall thickness of the intermediate portion of the sleeve and the distal portion of the sleeve.
10. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein an internal face of a proximal end of the hub portion of the sleeve is tapered.
11. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein the hub portion of the sleeve comprises a rib configured to form the watertight fit with the ophthalmic instrument.
12. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein a diameter of the intermediate portion of the sleeve decreases towards the distal portion of the sleeve.
13. The sleeve of claim 3, wherein a diameter of the distal portion of the sleeve decreases from the bend towards the distal end portion of the sleeve.
14. The sleeve of claim 2, further comprising a mark for aligning the sleeve with the ophthalmic instrument.
15. The sleeve of claim 2, wherein the hub portion of the sleeve comprises a non-cylindrical shape.
16. A tip for an ophthalmic instrument, the tip comprising:
- a tip component comprising: a proximal end portion configured to connect, in a watertight fit, to a distal end of an ophthalmic instrument having an irrigation channel and an aspiration channel, a cannula portion projecting distally from the proximal end portion, the cannula portion comprising a first aspiration port at or adjacent to a distal end of the cannula portion, and a channel extending through the proximal end portion and the cannula portion, wherein the channel is configured to be in fluid communication with the first aspiration port of the cannula portion and the aspiration channel of the ophthalmic instrument; and
- a sleeve comprising: a hub portion configured to connect, in a watertight fit, to the distal end of the ophthalmic instrument; an intermediate portion projecting from the hub portion; a distal portion projecting from the intermediate portion and having an irrigation port; and a distal end portion projecting from the distal portion and having a second aspiration port, wherein the second aspiration port of the distal end portion is configured to be in fluid communication with the first aspiration port of the cannula portion of the tip component; wherein the intermediate portion and the distal portion form an annular channel that surrounds at least a part of the tip component and is configured to be in fluid communication with the irrigation port of the distal portion of the sleeve and the irrigation channel of the ophthalmic instrument.
17. The tip of claim 16, wherein the tip component comprises a first bend near the distal end of the cannula portion and the sleeve comprises a second bend in the distal portion near the distal end portion, wherein the second bend overlies the first bend.
18. The tip of claim 17, wherein the irrigation port of the distal portion of the sleeve is disposed between the second bend of the sleeve and the distal end portion of the sleeve.
19. The tip of claim 16, wherein the irrigation port of the distal portion of the sleeve is disposed along a sidewall of the distal portion of the sleeve and lateral to the second aspiration port.
20. The tip of claim 16, wherein the sleeve covers the tip component.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 23, 2021
Publication Date: May 19, 2022
Inventors: Kenneth J. Wiljanen (Seattle, WA), Robert May (Redmond, WA), Lawrence Laks (Bellevue, WA)
Application Number: 17/409,228