Patent ID: 7766928

Claim:
A surgical device for cutting a portion of a body comprising: first and second jaws for receiving the body portion therebetween; the first jaw comprising an anvil in communication with a first smart memory material to facilitate opening and closing of the first jaw towards the second jaw, wherein the first smart memory material is capable of moving from a first physical state in which the first and second jaws are in an open position and a second physical state in which the first and second jaws are in a closed position; the second jaw comprising a knife in communication with a second smart memory material to move the knife from a first position to a second position spaced apart from the first position, wherein the second smart memory material is capable of moving from a first physical state in which the knife is in an undeployed state and a second physical state in which the knife is deployed to facilitate cutting of the body portion; and an activating apparatus in communication with the smart memory materials for causing the smart memory materials to change from their respective first physical state to their respective second physical state.