Abstract: A laparoscopic/thorascopic support device is described that engages and supports a body part in a non-traumatic manner while it is being acted upon by a surgical instrument. The support device is capable of lifting or otherwise moving a body part into a desired position to be operated upon or isolated from another body part. The support device includes an insertion device that punctures a covering of a body tissue to provide a passageway for access to the desired body part and a catheter. The catheter extends through the passageway and engages and temporarily supports the desired body part in a non-traumatic manner. The catheter (or manipulating device) includes a shaft having a distal end with a curved configuration that is made of a material having sufficient elastic memory that can be straightened for insertion into the passageway or placement about the desired body part, and that resumes its curved configuration due to its elastic memory to at least partially encircle and support the desired body part.

Abstract: Protective bandages in accordance with this invention include an anchoring strip having a protective layer on a lower surface thereof for overlying a desired area on a person's skin. Force-transmission-impeding means is provided on the side of the anchoring strip opposed to the side including the protective layer. The force-transmission-impeding means includes a top sheet adhered adjacent peripheral edges thereof to an upper surface of the anchoring strip to define an internal compartment between the anchoring strip and the top sheet. A compressive cushioning member is provided within the internal compartment for absorbing compressive forces, and low friction, relatively movable confronting surfaces are provided within the internal compartment spaced from the upper surface of the anchoring strip to absorb shear forces imposed upon the bandage.

Abstract: A laparoscopic/thorascopic support device is described that engages and supports a body part in a non-traumatic manner while it is being acted upon by a surgical instrument. The support device is capable of lifting or otherwise moving a body part into a desired position to be operated upon or isolated from another body part. The support device includes an insertion device that punctures a covering of a body tissue to provide a passageway for access to the desired body part and a catheter. The catheter extends through the passageway and engages and temporarily supports the desired body part in a non-traumatic manner. The catheter (or manipulating device) includes a shaft made of a material that is sufficiently flexible to bend to a desired straight or curved orientation and is sufficiently rigid to maintain the desired orientation. According to the preferred embodiments of the invention, a distal end of the shaft bends about the desired body part to form a loop and secure the desired part within the loop.

Abstract: A reversibly expandable compression pad for compressing tissues and/or organs to provide a relatively unobstructed surgical field during laparoscopic surgery and/or thorascopic surgery. The compression pad is flexible enough to be deployed, manipulated and removed through a laparoscopic access tube, and is heavy enough to compress tissues and/or organs. The pad can also be used as a table on which to rest objects during surgery.

Abstract: A surgical dissector has two sets of dissecting jaws with serrated inner surfaces to firmly grasp and dissect tissue. The second set of jaws projects transversely from the first set of jaws. Both sets of jaws are curved, and in one alternative, curvature of the second set of jaws is in a direction opposite to the curvature of the first set of jaws, while in the second alternative, the curvature of the second set of jaws is in the same direction as the curvature of the first set of jaws. In a first embodiment, for use during laparoscopic surgery, the dissector is positioned within a trocar for insertion into the body. In a second embodiment, for use during open surgery, a forceps type of dissector is disclosed.

Abstract: A unitary tissue hook for permanently joining tissue segments together includes a base section and at least one pair of spaced apart arms. A first end of each of the arms is joined to the base section and a second end of each of the arms is provided with a tip. The tips of at least one pair of arms face each other for receiving and holding the tissue segments together. In a preferred form of the invention, the base section includes two pairs of spaced apart arms, with the arms in each pair being spaced apart in a first direction from each other and with each pair of arms being spaced from the other pair in a second direction that is transverse to said first direction. The preferred embodiments of the invention are non-deformable.

Abstract: An insulated surgical scissors, having a monopolar or a bipolar scissors construction, that can be used during laparoscopic, endoscopic and open surgery for cutting and coagulating tissue.

Abstract: An internal body pump is a continuous loop with a fluid therein. The continuous loop is extendable into areas of a person's body having different pressure levels. Preferably the loop extends through a person's diaphragm with a first portion of the loop being in the thoracic area above the diaphragm and a second portion of the loop being in the abdominal area below the diaphragm. The loop includes pressure responsive members or sections as a part thereof, preferably locatable in both the thoracic and abdominal areas, and fluid is caused to flow in the continuous loop due to changes in pressure conditions imposed upon the pressure responsive members or sections resulting from the breathing activity of the person.A prosthesis for implanting in a patient's body has outer and inner walls defining a peripheral fluid channel therebetween for receiving the flow of a fluid therethrough. The inner wall provides the periphery of an internal chamber through said prosthesis.

Abstract: A surgical clamp has pivoting jaws with undulating arrays of teeth that are interdigitating and offset with relation to each other. This clamp structure assures a firm, non-slipping grip in the presence of blood and body fluids during surgery. The inner surfaces of the jaws are concave to allow the clamp to grasp more tissue or organ that would be possible with flat inner surfaces. Laparoscopic and open surgery embodiments are included. An alternative to the embodiment is a clamp having openings through which tissue or an organ can protrude to allow an even greater amount of tissue or organ to be grasped.

Abstract: An articulated dissecting surgical tool includes an elongate member having a longitudinal axis and a dissecting tip located at a distal end of the elongate member. The tip includes a pair of opposed jaws and a coupling mechanism pivotally coupling the pair of opposed jaws together at a proximal end of the tip to permit pivotal movement of the opposed jaws relative to each other in a first plane between opened and closed positions. Each of the jaws includes a distal section having a forward and rear end, a proximal section having a forward and rear end, and an articulating pivot connection between the proximal and rear sections. The pivot connection is adjacent the rear end of the distal section and the forward end of the proximal section to permit angular movement of the distal section relative to the proximal section in a second plane different from the first plane to establish a desired angular relationship between the distal and proximal sections of each of the jaws.

Abstract: An apparatus for compressing and extracting internal body tissues wherein the apparatus is insertable through a trocar device and encompasses the tissue to be removed while compressing the tissue in situ outside of the trocar or of any incision access device, and then being removable from the trocar/incision device.

Abstract: A leak clip that can be applied through a trocar to immediately close off the entire opening in an internal organ, thereby preventing the leakage of contaminating fluids in the surrounding tissue.

Abstract: A biopsy needle cauterizes the wound caused by the taking of a tissue specimen and the tissues in contact with the biopsy needle prior to withdrawal of the biopsy needle from a person, thereby minimizing bleeding and preventing the proliferation of any existing cancer cells along the path of insertion and withdrawal of the biopsy needle from the body. In contrast with existing biopsy needles, the tissue is excised by retraction of the stylet into the cannula, with the cutting edge being at the junction of the upper surface of the stylet and the front wall of the recess which holds the tissue specimen, rather than excising the tissue by sliding the cannula forward over the recess in the stylet with the cutting means at the leading edge of the cannula.

Abstract: A hunting knife with a retaining member with dull sides located beneath the handle into which the blade can be retracted. This enables the knife to be handled safely, and to be placed in a holster without any sharp protruding edges which can damage the holster. Further, when the blade is extended, the dull sides of the retaining member do not damage animal organs or tissues away from the gutting area which makes it more efficient and easier to use. A keeper mechanism firmly locks the blade in its extended or retracted positions.

Abstract: Golf clubs for use in providing low trajectory shots out of difficult terrain include a club shaft and a club head attached at a lower end of the club shaft. The height of the club is less than 40 inches. The club head has a forward club face for engaging a golf ball, and this club face is sloped at an angle of between 2 degrees and 7 degrees. Moreover, more than 1/2 of the club head weight is located in the lower 1/2 of the height of the club head.

Abstract: A bobber and sinker which can be easily attached and detached from fishing lines is disclosed. The sinker is made of a single high density material, such as rubber, in which a slit has been made, to frictionally hold the fishing line. The bobber has an inner segment of high density material and an outer shell of high floatation material. A slit in the outer segment frictionally holds the fishing line. The bobber and sinker can be rapidly attached and detached from a fishing line by inserting the fishing line into the slits. Also, the bobber and sinker may be rapidly and easily positioned and repositioned along the fishing line, and the fishing line is frictionally held without the need for any operations or mechanisms to secure or hold the fishing line in place. Alternatively, to provide a sinker of higher density, the sinker can comprise an outer shell, an inner core of higher density material than the material of the outer shell, with a slit in the outer shell frictionally holding the fishing line.

Abstract: A fishing hook resistant to accidental dislodgement from the mouth of a fish, yet which does not pose a snagging hazard to persons handling it. The hook comprises a shank portion, at least one bent return portion, and a barb at the upper end of the return portion. The return portion of the hook has a longitudinal axis which is generally parallel to the longitudinal axis of the shank. The barb terminates in a sharply pointed free end contiguous with a generally semi-tear-drop shaped, relatively blunt, edge surface. That edge surface includes a curved portion spaced laterally of the longitudinal axis of the return portion of the hook and a contiguous undercut portion merging with the return portion of the hook. The curved portion of the edge surface may be directed toward or away from the shank of the hook.

Abstract: A flying disk which has a decorative member rotatably mounted in the top surface thereof and which is free to rotate relative to rotation of the flying disk as the flying disk is spins through the air about a central axis. In one embodiment, a hollow spherical member is mounted in a hole at the center of the flying disk member and is free to rotate about an axis which is parallel to the plane of the upper wall of the disk. Another embodiment mounts the spherical member so that it is free to rotate about the central axis of the flying disk. In another embodiment, the rotating member is a double truncated cone shape. The rotating members can have a smooth exterior surface or may have vanes projecting therefrom and/or openings, e.g., elongated slits or circular holes, therein, to impart spin to the rotating members during flight of the flying disk.

Abstract: An action game comprising a reservoir capable of holding a quantity of a material such as a liquid therein. A member for propelling a projectile, such as a catapult, is fixedly secured or swivably connected adjacent the reservoir, preferably one catapult or member being located at each end of the reservoir. One or more players directs a plurality of the projectiles using the catapult to a floatable object (e.g., boat-shaped) which floats on the material within the reservoir to try to sink the object in a competitive fashion. The floatable object includes a compartment to hold projectiles, so that the object can be submerged (i.e., sunk) in the material when a sufficient number of the projectiles is contained in the compartment. Each player can try to sink his or her opponent's floating object before his or her own floating object is sunk, or each player can compete by themselves against the clock.

Abstract: A game including multiple playing pieces; with the multiple playing pieces including a plurality of identical sets of playing pieces. Each identical set of playing pieces includes a plurality of playing pieces having non-numerical indicia representing inanimate or animate objects which are rankable in a specific order relative to each other; each of the plurality of playing pieces including indicia representing one of the objects. Each of the plurality of playing pieces includes retaining means for retaining additional indicia that indicates a specific condition of the object represented on that respective playing piece, with the specific condition having a bearing on the order of ranking of the object.