Patent ID: 7186258
Filing Date: 2007-03-06
Classification: A61B,A61F

Abstract:
1. A lenticular net instrument for use in extracapsular cataract surgery in which a cataractous nucleus is fragmented, comprising a lenticular net, a handle coupled with said lenticular net and an actuator on said handle for effecting movement of said lenticular net to a contracted configuration having a narrow profile permitting insertion in and withdrawal from a lens capsule through a small incision and an expanded configuration having an expanded profile behind a cataractous nucleus to block fragments of the nucleus from falling into the vitreous cavity, said narrow profile being of a size small enough to fit through a 1 to 2 mm incision in the eye, said lenticular net comprising a layer of openwork material collapsed in the contracted configuration and expanded in the expanded configuration, said layer of openwork material having a plurality of openings therein of a size preventing clinically significant fragments of the nucleus from passing therethrough into the vitreous cavity, said lenticular net in said expanded configuration leaving the nucleus uncaptured by said net for fragmentation by a fragmenting instrument separate and independent from said lenticular net instrument.