Patent ID: 7713275

Claim:
A medical grasping device comprising: an elongate control member having an atraumatic distal tip section and a proximal end portion, the elongate control member further including a grasping portion positioned between the proximal end portion and the distal tip section, wherein the grasping portion includes a plurality of preformed wire loops with proximal end portions joined to the elongate control member; an outer sheath having a distal end, a proximal end, and a passageway extending between the distal and proximal ends, the elongate control member being slidable within the passageway relative to the outer sheath; and an actuation section connected to the proximal end portion of the elongate control member, the actuation section moving the grasping portion in and out of the distal end of the outer sheath, the actuation section including a retraction mechanism that biases the actuation section proximally causing a relative motion between the elongate control member and the sheath urging the grasping portion towards a retracted state; wherein each of the wire loops is pie-shaped upon deployment from the distal end of the outer sheath, each wire loop having an arcuate outer section, the arcuate outer sections cooperating to form a circular perimeter substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the elongate control member, each arcuate outer section having a radius about equal to a radius of the circular perimeter, each wire loop having an opening, the openings cooperating to substantially fill the circular perimeter, further wherein moving the elongate control member distally relative to the outer sheath expands the circular perimeter and cooperatively expands the radius of the arcuate outer sections thereby increasing the openings of the wire loops to again substantially fill the circular perimeter.