Patent ID: RE44896

Claim:
A surgical instrument comprising: a hand piece having a distal end and a proximal end; a shaft portion extending from the distal end of the hand piece and having a distal end and a proximal end; a drive shaft disposed for rotation within the shaft portion, the drive shaft having a distal end and a proximal end thereof; a surgical tool bit connected to the distal end of the drive shaft; a protective hood including a dissecting foot plate portion connected to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the surgical tool bit resides within the protective hood, partially exposed, and the protective hood is rotatable relative to the surgical tool bit exposing a different portion of the surgical tool bit; and a rotatable member provided in the hand piece, said rotatable member operably connected to the proximal end of the shaft portion and manipulation of the rotatable member controls the rotation of the protective hood relative to the hand piece and the drive shaft via the shaft portion ; and a flexible neck portion connecting the protective hood to the distal end of the shaft portion, wherein the drive shaft comprises a flexible drive shaft portion at the distal end thereof and extending through the flexible neck portion to connect to the surgical tool bit, wherein the flexible neck portion is communicatingly connected to the hand piece and the flexible neck portion's flexing motion is actuated and controlled from the hand piece .