Patent ID: 7416539

Claim:
A handle that can be held by an operator's hand and usable as a powered surgical apparatus with a movable cutting blade assembly and a source of irrigation fluid, the cutting blade assembly including a rotatable inner tube and defining a cutting surface and an outer tube defining a cutting window, the handle comprising: an upper portion defining a distal section connectable to the cutting blade assembly, the upper portion including a proximal end that defines an irrigation fluid coupling that is connectable to the source of irrigation fluid, the upper portion defining an irrigation fluid channel that extends from the irrigation fluid coupling to the cutting blade assembly, the distal section of the upper portion including a manually rotatable member, the member being connectable to the outer tube such that manual rotation of the member results in rotation of the outer tube and thereby reorientation of the cutting window; and a lower portion extending downwardly from the upper portion so as to define an angle of less than 90° with the distal section of the upper portion, the lower portion being arranged to enable the user's hand to simultaneously grasp the lower portion and manually rotate the rotatable member of the upper portion; the member being freely rotatable relative to a remainder of the upper portion without becoming disconnected from the remainder of the upper portion, the member being rotatable during operation of the powered surgical apparatus while the inner tube rotates, the member being rotatable by virtue of a rotational force applied by a tip of at least one of a user's fingers.