Patent ID: 7264625

Claim:
A device for applying non-penetrating clips to small blood vessels or other wound sites or tissue separation sites where suturing or other wound closure techniques would be impossible or undesirable, comprising: a hand-held clip applier, including: a handle suitable for gripping in the hand of a surgeon, a clip storing and dispensing stem extending from a forward end of the handle, the stem having a tip at a remote end for dispensing and serially applying metal clips in non-penetrating engaging configuration against sections of tissue on either side of a wound or tissue separation to clamp the two sections of tissue together, upon the receipt of mechanical force to a clip-applying component of the stem, a movable member within the handle which, when caused to move by a force applied from outside the handle, is effective to cause movement of the clip-applying component in the stem so as to cause dispensing and application of a clip, and linkage means engaged with the movable member within the handle and extending to a position in the handle capable of receiving a pushing force from the exterior of the handle, and a flexible cable release device comprising a cable sheath, and an internal cable capable of delivering a compressive pushing force through the sheath, a hand operable actuator at a remote hand-grippable end of the cable release, remote from the clip applier, for applying a pushing force to slide the cable through sheath so as to cause extension of a pusher tailpiece out of a proximal end of the cable sheath when the hand operable actuator is engaged, the sheath at the proximal end having means for connection to the handle of the hand-held clip applier in a position to apply force to the linkage means in the handle by motion of the pusher tailpiece, thus advancing the linkage means and movable member within the handle, and thus advancing the clip-applying component to dispense and apply a clip when the hand operable actuator on the flexible cable release device is pushed, the cable sheath and internal cable being sufficiently flexible as to avoid movement of the tip when the hand operable actuator is moved to apply said pushing force, whereby with the cable release device connected to the clip applier the hand-held clip applier can be held very steadily in one hand with its tip under a microscope while the force to apply a clip is supplied at the remote end of the cable release device, avoiding any movement of the tip at the instant of clip application.