Surgical endoclip

Claim 1

A surgical endoclip comprising a thin metallic unitary member comprising a base terminating in a forward end in an upwardly and rearwardly extending section, said upwardly and rearwardly extending section terminating in a lower free-end, a corner formed between said lower free-end and said forward end of said base, said endoclip further comprising an upwardly and forwardly extending intermediate section extending from the rearward end of said base, said upwardly and forwardly extending intermediate section terminating in an upper arm substantially parallel to said base, said upper are terminating in an upper free-end, said surgical endoclip having an open position with said surgical endoclip lying within an initial plane, said surgical endoclip deformable to a closed position by pressure applied to said upper arm and base to displace said upper free-end to be captured and clamped in said corner under said lower free-end to form a circumferential closure on a duct to be sealed with said endoclip, said upper free-end and the upper surface of said base having complementary contours along the direction of relative movement between said upper free-end and said base as said upper free-end moves to be captured in said corner, said upper free-end being moved into and along said complementary surface of said base as said endoclip is being closed and the upper free end is moving forwardly toward said corner, said complementary contours guiding the proper closure to maintain the ends within said initial plane as said endoclip is being closed and preventing the ends of said upper-free-end and said lower free-end from projecting out from the closed endoclip to prevent piercing of surrounding tissue.