Surgical instrument for orthopedic surgery

Abstract

A rotatable surgical instrument having a protective hood with articulating bendable distal end is provided to improve and enable various orthopedic surgical procedures such as arthroscopy. The protective hood surrounds the surgical tool bit exposing only a portion of the tool bit for removing bone or soft tissue material and protects the nerve from the surgical tool bit. The protective hood can be controllably rotated from the instrument's hand piece to control the orientation of the attack angle of the surgical tool bit. Additionally, the bending of the distal end of the instrument can be controlled from the hand piece.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A surgical instrument comprising:
 a hand piece having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a shaft portion extending from the distal end of the hand piece and having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a drive shaft disposed for rotation within the shaft portion, the drive shaft having a distal end and a proximal end thereof; 
 a surgical tool bit connected to the distal end of the drive shaft; 
 a protective hood connected to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the surgical tool bit resides within the protective hood, partially exposed, and the protective hood is rotatable relative to the surgical tool bit exposing a different portion of the surgical tool bit; and 
 said hand piece including a first control member, said first control member operably connected to the proximal end of the shaft portion and manipulation of the first control member controls the rotation of the protective hood relative to the hand piece and the drive shaft via the shaft portion, 
 wherein the flexible neck portion is operably connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's bending motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
 
     
     
       2. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a bone removing bit. 
     
     
       3. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a soft tissue resector bit and the surgical instrument is configured and adapted to remove soft tissue debris through the instrument. 
     
     
       4. The surgical instrument of  claim 3 , wherein said soft tissue resector bit has a hollow interior and the surgical instrument further comprising a flexible tubular member provided through the hollow interior of the soft tissue resector bit, wherein said flexible tubular member comprises an irrigation fluid delivery channel for delivering irrigation fluid and a vacuum delivery channel for removing soft tissue debris. 
     
     
       5. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the protective hood includes a dissecting foot plate portion. 
     
     
       6. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , wherein the dissecting foot plate portion has a length of about 1 to 8 mm. 
     
     
       7. The surgical instrument of  claim 1 , further comprising a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit. 
     
     
       8. The surgical instrument of  claim 7 , wherein the flexible neck portion is operably connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's bending motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
     
     
       9. The surgical instrument of claim  8  1, wherein the flexible neck portion is configured and adapted to preferentially bend in one direction. 
     
     
       10. The surgical instrument of  claim 9 , wherein the flexible neck portion further comprising an actuation mechanism for controllably bending the flexible neck portion. 
     
     
       11. The surgical instrument of  claim 10 , wherein the actuating means is operably connected to the hand piece and the bending of the flexible neck portion is controlled by actuating the actuation mechanism from the hand piece. 
     
     
       12. A surgical instrument comprising:
 a hand piece having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a power drive mechanism provided with the hand piece; 
 a shaft portion extending from the distal end of the hand piece and having a distal end and a proximal end; 
 a drive shaft disposed for rotation within the shaft portion, the drive shaft having a distal end and a proximal end thereof, wherein the proximal end is connected to the power drive mechanism; 
 a surgical tool bit connected to the distal end of the drive shaft; 
 a protective hood attached to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the surgical tool bit resides within the protective hood, partially exposed, and the protective hood is rotatable relative to the surgical tool bit exposing a different portion of the surgical tool bit; and 
 said hand piece including a first control member, said first control member operably connected to the proximal end of the shaft portion and manipulation of the first control member controls the rotation of the protective hood relative to the hand piece and the drive shaft via the shaft portion, 
 wherein the flexible neck portion is operably connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's bending motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
 
     
     
       13. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a bone removing bit. 
     
     
       14. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , wherein the surgical tool bit is a soft tissue resector bit and the surgical instrument is configured and adapted to remove soft tissue debris through the instrument. 
     
     
       15. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , wherein said soft tissue resector bit has a hollow interior and the surgical instrument further comprising a flexible tubular member provided through the hollow interior of the soft tissue resector bit, wherein said flexible tubular member comprises an irrigation fluid delivery channel for delivering irrigation fluid and a vacuum delivery channel for removing soft tissue debris. 
     
     
       16. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , wherein the protective hood includes a dissecting foot plate portion. 
     
     
       17. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , wherein the dissecting foot plate portion has a length of about 1 to 8 mm. 
     
     
       18. The surgical instrument of  claim 12 , further comprising a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit. 
     
     
       19. The surgical instrument of  claim 18 , wherein the flexible neck portion is operably connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's bending motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece. 
     
     
       20. The surgical instrument of claim  19  12, wherein the flexible neck portion is configured and adapted to preferentially bend in one direction. 
     
     
       21. The surgical instrument of  claim 20 , wherein the flexible neck portion further comprising an actuation mechanism for controllably bending the flexible neck portion. 
     
     
       22. The surgical instrument of  claim 21 , wherein the actuating means is operably connected to the hand piece and the bending of the flexible neck portion is controlled by actuating the actuation mechanism from the hand piece.