Maryland dissector laparoscopic instrument

Claim 1

A surgical instrument for insertion through a trocar tube comprising: a) a hollow extended tube having first and second ends and a longitudinal axis; b) a clevis means fixedly engaged to said first end of said hollow extended tube, said clevis means having a hollow bore opening to said hollow extended tube and a pair of parallel, spaced apart, opposed arms extending away from said hollow extended tube and being substantially within the projected periphery of the hollow extended tube; c) a pivot means extending substantially, transversely between said arms and engaging said arms, said pivot means having a first diameter; p1 d) an end effector means having a through-hole means through which said pivot means extends, said through-hole means having a second diameter larger than said first diameter for permitting pivotal movement of said end effector means around said pivot means and for permitting limited angular displacement of said end effector means relative to said pivot means, said end effector means having two blade elements which extend away from said hollow extended tube and which curve away from the longitudinal axis of said hollow extended tube thereby extending outside of a projected periphery of the trocar tube when said blade elements extend past the trocar tube, but which are within the periphery of the trocar tube upon an angular displacement of said blade elements relative to said pivot means when said blade elements are inside the periphery of the trocar tube; and e) actuator means coupled to said end effector means and to said hollow extended tube for imparting motion along said longitudinal axis to said end effector means relative to said clevis means which motion is translated at said clevis means to pivotal motion of said blade elements.