Layer arrangements for surgical staple cartridges

Abstract

A piece of buttress material and an end-effector of a surgical instrument including features which can aid a surgeon in properly and quickly attaching the piece of buttress material to the end-effector. In various embodiments, a piece of buttress material can include retention features which can be engaged with portions of an end-effector to releasably retain the piece of buttress material to at least a portion of the end-effector. Similarly, an end-effector can include features configured to engage portions of a piece of buttress material to releasably retain the piece of buttress material to the end-effector. In at least one embodiment, more than one piece of buttress material can be releasably retained to an end-effector.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application is a continuation application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13 / 763,095, entitled LAYER ARRANGEMENTS FOR SURGICAL STAPLE CARTRIDGES, filed Feb. 8, 2013, now U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2013 / 0161374, which is a continuation-in-part application claiming priority under 35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 032,002, entitled SURGICAL END EFFECTOR HAVING BUTTRESS RETENTION FEATURES, filed Feb. 15, 2008, which issued on Feb. 12, 2013 as U.S. Pat. No. 8,371,491, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.BACKGROUND[0002]i. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention generally relates to buttress material for a surgical instrument, and to buttress material configured to be releasably attached to an end-effector assembly of a surgical instrument.[0004]ii. Description of the Related Art[0005]A surgical instrument, such as ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0010]In at least one form of the invention, a piece of buttress material can be releasably attached to a sleeve, wherein the sleeve can be configured to be slid over at least one of the staple cartridge and the anvil of an end-effector. In at least one embodiment, the piece of buttress material can include a side portion which can be attached to the sleeve and, in addition, a body portion configured to be engaged with staples when the staples are deployed from the staple cartridge. In such an embodiment, the side portion can be used to releasably retain the body portion to the sleeve. In at least one embodiment, a recess and / or perforation can be defined in the piece of buttress material intermediate the side portion and the body portion, for example, such that the body portion can be separated from the side portion. In at least one embodiment, as a result, the perforation and / or recess can allow the sleeve to be removed from the buttress material after the staples have been deployed into the body portion.

[0013]In at least one form of the invention, a piece of buttress material configured to be releasably attached to an end-effector can include an unactivated adhesive. In various embodiments, a surgeon can position and align the piece of buttress material on the end-effector multiple times without the un-activated adhesive bonding to the end-effector. Once the surgeon is satisfied with the alignment of the piece of buttress material on the end-effector, the surgeon can then apply a reactant to the un-activated adhesive. In various embodiments, the reactant can activate the adhesive and cause the adhesive to releasably bond the piece of buttress material to a portion of the end-effector. In at least one embodiment, the piece of buttress material can include a recess configured to receive an applicator such that the application of the reactant to the un-activated adhesive can be facilitated.

Problems solved by technology

In some circumstances, the layers of tissue can be relatively thin, can have a high fluid content, and / or can have a non-uniform thickness, which can cause the staples to be improperly formed within the tissue.

In various embodiments, a piece of buttress material can be difficult for a surgeon to attach to the jaw members of an end-effector.

As a result, the surgeon can spend valuable time positioning and aligning a piece of buttress material on a jaw member of an end-effector.

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