Automated anterior capsulectomy instrument

Claim 1

A surgical instrument comprising: a handpiece body adapted to be manually manipulated; a hollow tube extending distally from said body for insertion into the eye as said body is manually manipulated; a blade having a first portion mounted within said tube and a second portion terminating in a sharp tip and extending beyond a distal end of said tube at an angle relative to a longitudinal axis of said first portion; said first portion having an axis of rotation longitudinally oriented with respect to said hollow tube at a fixed longitudinal position and displaced radially in a first direction from the center axis of said hollow tube; the length of said second portion, the amount of displacement of said axis of rotation, and the diameter of said hollow tube being such that, when said sharp tip is rotated 180° with respect to said first direction, said sharp tip is within a region defined by extending said tube along said center axis and, when said tip is oriented in said first direction, said tip extends outside said region; and means within said body for rotating said blade.