Optic nerve clamp

Claim 2

An optic nerve clamp comprising a pair of clamping jaws connected at a pivot for relative movement about a pivot axis extending through said pivot, each of said jaws having a tip portion on one side of said pivot and handle portion on the opposite side of said pivot, said tip portions, arranged to clampingly abut with one another, being curved to extend out of the plane perpendicular to said pivot axis, wherein the extent of curvature of said tip portions is precisely sufficient to enable access to the optic nerve from around the side of the eyeball, one of said tip portions being shorter than the other such that the ends of said tip portions are offset along the length of said tip portions, each of said jaws having an inner surface that abuts with the inner surface of the other jaw when said jaws clampingly abut, each of said jaws having an outer surface opposite its inner surface, the outer surface of the shorter tip portion being offset transversely to the length of said tip portions from the portion of the inner surface of the longer tip portion that extends beyond the end of said shorter tip portion.

Claim 3

The clamp of claim 1 wherein the free ends of said tip portions are rounded.

Claim 4

The clamp of claim 1 wherein each of said tip portions includes an abutting face, said faces being serrated and the serrations of one face being adapted to mate with the serrations of the other face.

Claim 5

The clamp of claim 3 wherein the region of the longer tip portion extending beyond the shorter tip portion is substantially smooth.

Claim 6

The clamp of claim 4 wherein the length of said region is approximately five millimeters.

Claim 7

An optic nerve clamp, comprising a pair of clamping jaws connected at a pivot or relative movement about a pivot axis extending through said pivot, each of said jaws having a tip portion on one side of said pivot and a handle portion on the opposite side of said pivot, said tip portions, arranged to clampingly abut with one another, being curved precisely sufficiently to allow access to the the optic nerve around the eyeball and extending out of the plane perpendicular to said pivot axis, one of said tip portions being shorter than the other such that the ends of said tip portions are offset along the length of said tip portions, each of said jaws having a inner surface that abuts with the inner surface of the other jaw when said jaws clampingly abut, each of said jaws having an outer surface opposite its inner surface, the outer surface of the shorter tip portion being offset transversely to the length of said tip portions from the portion of the inner surface of the longer tip portion that extends beyond the end of said shorter tip portion, the end of the longer tip portion being tapered sufficiently to allow said instrument to wedge between tissues which might otherwise interfere with access to the tissue desired to be clamped, said offset of said tip portions being adapted to permit the tissue desired to be clamped to be located between the end of said shorter tip portion and the section of said longer tip portion extending beyond said shorter tip portion.

Claim 8

An optic nerve clamp, comprising a pair of clamping jaws connected at a pivot or relative movement about a pivot axis extending through said pivot, each of said jaws having a tip portion on one side of said pivot and a handle portion on the opposite side of said pivot, said tip portions, arranged to clampingly abut with one another, being curved precisely sufficiently to allow access to the the optic nerve around the eyeball and extending out of the plane perpendicular to said pivot axis, one of said tip portions being shorter than the other such that the ends of said tip portions are offset along the length of said tip portions, each of said jaws having a inner surface that abuts with the inner surface of the other jaw when said jaws clampingly abut, each of said jaws having an outer surface opposite its inner surface, the outer surface of the shorter tip portion being offset transversely to the length of said tip portions from the portion of the inner surface of the longer tip portion that extends beyond the end of said shorter tip portion, the end of the longer tip portion being tapered sufficiently to allow said instrument to wedge between tissues which might otherwise interfere with access to the tissue desired to be clamped, said offset of said tip portions being adapted to permit the tissue desired to be clamped to be located between the end of said shorter tip portion and the section of said longer tip portion extending beyond said shorter tip portion.

Claim 9

The instrument of claim 6 wherein each of said tip portions includes an abutting face, said abutting faces being matingly serrated.

Claim 10

The instrument of claim 6 wherein the extension of the longer tip portion beyond the shorter tip portion has a face closest to said opposed tip portion which is substantially smooth.

Claim 11

The instrument of claim 8 wherein said extension is approximately five millimeters in length.