Patent Publication Number: US-2012046611-A1

Title: Integral insufflation valve

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/712,652, filed on Feb. 25, 2010, which claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/164,035, filed on Mar. 27, 2009, the entire contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present disclosure relates generally to a valve and, more particularly, to a selectively rotatable valve configured and dimensioned to control the flow of insufflation gases through an access port. 
     2. Background of Related Art 
     As medical and hospital costs continue to increase, surgeons are constantly striving to develop advanced surgical techniques. Advances in the surgical field are often related to the development of operative techniques which involve less invasive surgical procedures and reduce overall patient trauma. In this manner, the length of hospital stays can be significantly reduced, and, therefore, the hospital and medical costs can be reduced as well. 
     One of the advances in recent years to reduce the invasiveness of surgical procedures is endoscopic surgery. Generally, endoscopic surgery involves incising through body walls for example, viewing and/or operating on the ovaries, uterus, gall bladder, bowels, kidneys, appendix, etc. There are many common endoscopic surgical procedures, including arthroscopy, laparoscopy (pelviscopy), gastroentroscopy and laryngobronchoscopy, just to name a few. Typically, trocars are utilized for creating the incisions through which the endoscopic surgery is performed. Trocar tubes or cannula devices are extended into and left in place in the abdominal wall to provide access for endoscopic surgical tools. A camera or endoscope is inserted through a relatively large diameter trocar tube which is generally located at the naval incision, and permits the visual inspection and magnification of the body cavity. The surgeon can then perform diagnostic and therapeutic procedures at the surgical site with the aid of specialized instrumentation, such as, forceps, cutters, applicators, and the like which are designed to fit through additional cannulas. Thus, instead of a large incision (typically 12 inches or larger) that cuts through major muscles, patients undergoing endoscopic surgery receive more cosmetically appealing incisions, between 5 and 10 millimeters in size. Recovery is, therefore, much quicker and patients require less anesthesia than traditional surgery. In addition, because the surgical field is greatly magnified, surgeons are better able to dissect blood vessels and control blood loss. Heat and water loss are greatly reduced as a result of the smaller incisions. 
     Insufflatory surgery involves filling a body cavity with a pressurized gas or other biocompatible fluid to expand or to maintain the cavity under certain predetermined pressure and to facilitate access to one or more organs or surgical sites. One way of performing the surgery is by first puncturing the skin using a trocar in a desired body cavity region and introducing an insufflation gas into the body cavity to inflate it. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present disclosure relates to a housing for controlling fluid flow from a fluid source to an outlet. The housing has a fluid source for supplying fluids, in some instances, insufflation gases. The housing includes a body having at least one outlet and a cavity. A selectively rotatable integral valve is disposed in the cavity and configured and dimensioned to be rotated in a receded configuration. The integral valve has a handle and a regulator. A lumen is disposed along the longitudinal axis of the integrally connected handle and regulator. A user controls the fluid flow between the fluid source and the outlet by articulating the integral valve to predetermined positions, enabling or inhibiting the flow of fluids from the fluid source into the outlet. It is envisioned that this housing can be used for insufflation purposes. 
     A pair of protuberances is disposed in mirror image along the longitudinal axis of the regulator on opposing surfaces of the regulator for engaging a pair of bores disposed in the cavity. As a user articulates the handle, the protuberances rotate within the bores. At least one of the protuberances has at least one detent longitudinally disposed along the radial surface for affixing the integral valve in a predetermined location. A plurality of detents for affixing the integral valve in a plurality of predetermined locations is also contemplated. The predetermined positions are indicative of various flow rates, enabling the user to adjust or otherwise control the flow of fluid through the housing. As such, the user can selectively control fluid flow through opened, partially opened, or closed positions. 
     In an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a trocar assembly that comprises a trocar valve body defining a cavity, the valve body for communicating insufflation fluid therethrough. The assembly also comprises a selectively rotatable valve handle for controlling a flow of said insufflation fluid through the valve body. The rotatable valve handle is elongated and has a first end and a second end. The first end is sized and configured to be rotatably maintained within the cavity and the second end extends outwardly so as to be actuatable by a user. The rotatable valve handle defines a bore therethrough which extends longitudinally from the first end to the second end. The valve body defines an outlet that communicates with the cavity. The rotatable valve handle is rotatable from an open position, in which the bore of the valve is at least partially aligned with the outlet so as permit fluid to pass through the bore, and a closed position, in which the bore of the valve is not aligned with the outlet so as prevent fluid to pass through the bore. The rotatable valve handle has at its first end a protuberance that engages a valve body bore of the valve body, the protuberance assisting with maintaining the rotatable valve handle within the cavity. A first one of the valve body bore and the protuberance may include a detent, and a second one of the valve body bore and the protuberance may include a ridge, the ridge configured to engage the detent so as to maintain the rotatable valve handle in position relative to the valve body. The trocar assembly may include multiple valve body bore and/or ridges, such that the rotatable valve handle may be selectively maintained in various different positions relative to the valve body. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presently disclosed integral insufflation valve will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a front cross-sectional perspective view of a portion of a trocar assembly with an integral valve, the integral valve shown in a closed configuration in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a front cross-sectional perspective view of the trocar assembly of  FIG. 1  with the integral valve shown in an open configuration; 
         FIG. 3  is a side perspective view of an integral valve in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 4  is a bottom perspective view of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a front cross-sectional perspective view of the trocar assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2  with the integral valve removed for clarity; 
         FIG. 6  is a diagrammatical view of one embodiment of a housing of the trocar assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2  in accordance with the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 7  is a side perspective view of another embodiment of an integral valve in accordance with the present disclosure; and 
         FIG. 8  is a front cross-sectional perspective view of another embodiment of a housing of the trocar assembly of  FIGS. 1 and 2  with the integral valve removed for clarity. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Particular embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in the drawings and as described throughout the following description, and as is traditional when referring to relative positioning on an object, the term “proximal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is closer to the user and the term “distal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is further from the user. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure in unnecessary detail. 
     Referring now to the drawings, in which like reference numerals identify identical or substantially similar parts throughout the several views.  FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate one embodiment in accordance with the present disclosure. A housing  100  includes a body  104  having a cap  134  at one end and a cannula  102  at an opposing end. The housing  100  includes a duck bill seal  136  and an instrument seal  138 . Instruments are insertable through an opening  140  in the cap  134 . The housing  100  further includes an integral valve  110  disposed in a cavity  108  of the housing  100 . As seen in  FIG. 6 , the housing  100  further includes a fluid source  99  for supplying fluids. The body  104  has at least one outlet  106 . Illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the integral valve  110  defines a lumen  128  therethrough and is selectively rotatable. The diameter of the lumen  128  decreases distally wherein the lumen  128  has an inlet  126  at the proximal end thereof and an opening  132  at the distal end thereof. 
     The integral valve  110  includes a handle  112  and a regulator  114 , each of which has a substantially cylindrical shape. The handle  112 , however, has a tapered distal portion  112   a . The handle  112  is integrally connected to the regulator  114 . The tapered distal portion  112   a  of the handle  112  abuts the curved outer surface of the regulator  114 . As such, the regulator  114  is disposed at a substantially orthogonal orientation relative to the handle  112 . The regulator  114  is configured and dimensioned to inhibit or enable fluid flow upon predetermined articulation of the handle  112 . The integral valve  110  is selectively rotatable within the cavity  108 . As such, an end user can control fluid flow between the fluid source  99  and the at least one outlet  106  by the integral valve  110  ( FIG. 6 ). In some manifestations, the housing  100  is configured and dimensioned to control insufflation gases traveling therethrough. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the integral valve  110  has a pair of protuberances  116 ,  118  disposed on the regulator  114 . Furthermore,  FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of the housing  100  showing one section of the housing  100  which illustrates one bore  122  of a pair of bores defined within the housing  100 . The other bore  122  of the pair of bores is defined in a second section (not shown) of the housing  100  which is substantially similar to the section of the housing  100  illustrated in  FIG. 5 . Each bore  122  is disposed in the cavity  108  relative to each respective section of the housing  100 . The pair of protuberances  116 ,  118  is rotatably mounted in the pair of bores. Each of the pair of protuberances  116 ,  118  is disposed in mirror image of each other along the longitudinal axis of the regulator  114  on the opposing surfaces  114   a ,  114   b  of the regulator  114 . At least one of the protuberances  116 ,  118  includes at least one detent  124  longitudinally disposed along the radial surface thereof. At least one of the bores  122  includes at least one ridge  130 , in some instances a plurality of ridges  130 , disposed radially along the surface of the bore  122  ( FIG. 5 ). As can be appreciated, at least one of the bores  122  may include at least one detent  124  (see  FIG. 7 ) and at least one of the protuberances  116 ,  118  may include at least one ridge  130  (see  FIG. 8 ). Each detent  124  is configured and dimensioned to engage at least one ridge  130 , or a plurality of ridges  130 . 
     In the embodiment shown in  FIG. 3 , the protuberances  116 ,  118  include a plurality of detents  124  longitudinally disposed along the radial surface of each. Each detent  124  is configured and dimensioned to hold the integral valve  110  in a predetermined position. Each predetermined position is indicative of a predetermined flow rate. Furthermore, the integral valve  110  is selectively positionable between a plurality of positions including an opened position, a partially opened position, and a closed position. As such, the integral valve  110  is selectively rotatable into a receded configuration as illustrated in  FIG. 1 . The housing  100  is configured and dimensioned to enable fluid flow through the housing  100  when the integral valve  110  is positioned in either the opened position or the partially opened position ( FIG. 2 ). Conversely, the housing  100  is also configured and dimensioned to inhibit fluid flow through the housing  100  when the integral valve  110  is positioned in the closed position ( FIG. 1 ). As shown in  FIG. 2 , the lumen  128  and the outlet  106  can be arranged in substantially concentric alignment. Alternatively, the lumen  128  and the outlet  106  can also be arranged in substantially orthogonal alignment, as shown in  FIG. 1 . Further, the lumen  128  and the outlet  106  are configured and dimensioned to be disposed at an angle alpha (α) relative to each other. The range of angle alpha (α) is defined between about concentric alignment of the lumen  128  and the outlet  106  and about orthogonal alignment of the lumen  128  and the outlet  106  ( FIG. 5 ). 
     In operation, a user rotates the integral valve  110  by the handle  112  to a predetermined position to control the flow of fluids. Each detent  124  engages the respective bore  122  of the pair of bores and removably affixes to the predetermined position upon user selection. Upon rotation into an open or partially opened configuration, the fluid source  99  attached to the handle  112  passes fluid, in some instances insufflation gases, through the inlet  126  disposed on the proximal end of the handle  112 . In this configuration, the handle  112  juts out, indicating fluid flow passage. The fluid travels through the lumen  128  and the regulator  114  and out of the opening  132  at the distal end of the integral valve  110 . In the opened or partially opened configuration, the fluids pass into the outlet  106  and down through a cannula  102  and into a patient&#39;s body. When the user rotates the integral valve  110  into the closed configuration, the regulator  114  prevents the flow of the fluids through the outlet  106 . In the closed configuration, the handle  112  is positioned so that it is in a receded and in an “out of the way” position, preventing unwanted snagging and providing a means for indicating fluid flow stoppage. 
     While various advantages of this arrangement have been described herein above, it should be further appreciated that the present invention may simplify the manufacturability of valve bodies by reducing the number of components typically needed for such an insufflation-type valve. Furthermore, the present invention may be particularly well-suited for applications in which it is desirable to have a relatively small, or low profile, valve body, since typical insufflation-type valve arrangements, which tend to extend radially outward from a valve body a significant distance therefrom (irrespective of whether open or closed), may undesirably interfere with each other during a surgical procedure when such valve bodies are positioned in close proximity to each other. In some embodiments of the present invention (and as shown in  FIG. 2 ), when the rotatable valve handle is in the closed position, it may avoid extending beyond an overall outer circumference of the valve body. In this manner, the valve handles may be out of the way and may suffer minimal interference with each other when valve bodies are positioned adjacent to or in direct contact with each other during a surgical procedure. 
     While several embodiments of the disclosure have been shown in the drawings, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereto, as it is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of preferred embodiments. Those skilled in the art will envision other modifications within the scope and spirit of the claims appended hereto.