DESCRIPTION

Technical Field This invention relates to scalpels.

Background Scalpels have been the main instruments that surgeons use in their everyday work. The style of scalpel has remained substantially unchanged for centuries comprising a generally flat handle having at one end blade attachment means to which a scalpel blade, with corresponding attachment means can be removably attached. The handle's blade attachment means is provided by a narrow extension limb projecting from end the of the handle having on opposite sides, a longitudinally directed narrow slot. This extension limb constitutes a keying part insertable into an elongated keyhole-shaped aperture in the scalpel blade, the two items being then movable towards one another such that the narrow boundary of the blade's "keyhole" slides into and tightly along the longitudinal slot in the handle's keying part.

One of the great difficulties experienced by those who work with scalpels is the problem of attachment and detachment of the blade from the handle. Over the years, many health care professionals throughout the world have broken blades or cut themselves whilst trying to fix or remove them from the scalpel handle. In addition there are issues of infection and cross-infection in regard to scalpel use (which are very important and relevant) and arise from users contact with the blade during its attachment or detachment. It is therefore considered deisrable to provide a safe and easy way of fixing, removing and disposing of scalpels, and their constituent parts. - Z -

Summary of the Invention According to this invention there is provided a scalpel comprising, as two components, a handle and a scalpel blade and wherein connection means are provided to connect the blade releasably to the handle, characterised in that the connection means comprises an internally screw-threaded first element provided fast with either the blade or the handle and further comprises an externally threaded second element, matingly screw-separable and screw-attachable to the first element, and provided fast with respectively either the handle or the blade.

In one embodiment the scalpel comprises two components, the first part being a surgical cutting blade mounted upon a domed nut-type or internally flanged collar element. The rigid handle having an end spigot threaded to engage the blade's domed nut or internally flanged collar. Optionally, a protective removable sheath or cap/cover can be provided to cover the blade, and keep it sterile, this sheath being attachable to the blade's domed nut or internally flanged collar. The sheath also serves to protect the scalpel blade during storage and/or transport, and protects against injury or infection transfer during any disposal.

The scalpel may be provided as single use and disposable, or it may be provided as a reusable product.

It would be preferable however to provide the handle in a reusable material such as stainless steel, such that the blade could be removed and disposed of after use, whilst the handle would be autoclaved for re-use with a fresh blade.

Provision of a protective cap or sheath allows safe positioning and attachment of the blade, after which the cap may be removed to permit use of the scalpel. Once the surgical procedure has been completed, the cap may be reattached to the blade, allowing safe detachment of it from the scalpel handle. Optionally to assist in this detachment a gripping element, e.g. one or more wings, may be incorporated into the protective sheath or cap or the blade's domed nut or internally flanged collar. Provision of a plurality of threaded spigots at varying angled directions at the end of the handle allows the position of the blade to be varied in relation to the handle axis, depending upon which spigot is used for attachment to the blade's domed nut or internally flanged collar. 5 Alternatively the female threaded element may be provided at the end of the handle, and the male threaded element at the rearward end of the blade.

The shape of the handle could be the same as the styLes of scalpel handle currently in 0 use (e.g. such as the Swann-Morton No.3 handle) but with one or more domed nut or internally flanged collar attachments replacing the traditional key attachment, or it might be a new form, e.g. such as a pencil type cylindrical shape. Indentations or other methods of improving the grip may also be incorporated into the handle.

5 Preferably the axis of the blade's threaded element extends longitudinally of the blade.

Preferably the, or one of the, threaded element(s) of the handle has its axis directed longitudinally of the handle.

,0 Existing styles and shapes of blades can be incorporated into the blade's domed nut component or internally flanged collar, or new styles may be used.

Adaptors for current scalpel handles may be provided to allow the attachment of the blade-hub arrangement. Similarly, adaptors (e.g. a liub with a key element) may be ,5 provided to allow the use of currents styles of scalpel blades with keyholes to be used with the new style of handle.

Brief Description of the Drawings By way of example embodiments of this invention will now be described with 0 reference to the accompanying drawings of which: Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a scalpel according to the prior art; Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of the embodiment shown in figure 2 showing the scalpel blade exposed, Figure 4(A) is a perspective view of part of a fourth embα diment of the invention and also shows the three mutually orthogonal lin.es X, Y and Z; Figure 4(B) is a view taken in an direction opposition to arrow X in Fig 4(A), Figure 4(C) is a view taken in a direction opposite to arrow Y in Fig 4(A), Figure 4(C) is a view taken in a direction opposite to arrow Z of Fig 4(A), Figures 5(A) (B) and (C) are three perspective views (A), (B) and (C) of the embodiment shown in Fig 4 and with a blad&-hub attached to each of the attachment points 15,16,17; Figure 6 is an exploded perspective view of a fifth embodiment, Figure 7 is an exploded perspective view of a sixth embodiment, Figures 8(A) and (B) are perspective views of embodiments providing for two different orientations of the blade, Figure 9 is a perspective exploded view of yet another embodiment of the invention; Figure 10 shows a needle-hub component with guidelimes/means of handling, Figures 11 to 17 show a variety of further embodiments » f the invention.

Detailed Description of Example(s) of the Invention Figure 1 shows the two components of a current style of scalpel 1 , wherein the scalpel blade 2 has a keyhole 3 that allows attachment to the key 4 on the scalpel handle 5.

Figure 2 shows a first embodiment of the invention comprLsing a blade-hub component 6 comprising a blade 7 and an internally threaded cylindrical hub 8, and a scalpel handle component 9. The handle 9 has an axially directed externally threaded spigot or male attachment part 10 onto which is screwed the inner female-part 11 of hub 8. The blade 7 is provided with a protective cap or cover 12 having an with inner female threaded part 13 which screws removably onto an outer screw threaded male-part 14 of hub 8. Figure 3 shows the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, with the two blade-hub 6 and scalpel handle 9 attached together, but with the cover 12 (not shown) removed to leave blade 7 exposed for use.

It will be noticed from Figs 2 and 3 that the components 6 and 9 can be provided with index marks 6a and 9a that are to be brought into registry and alignment with one another (see Fig 3) when these two components are fully engaged and in correct mutual alignment.

In the embodiment of Figure 4 the scalpel handle 9 has a three position blade-hub attachment, part 9b — in the form of a cube — and comprising three mutually orthogonal externally threaded spigots 15, 16 and 17. The axis of each blade hub as shown is at 90° to each of the others.

Figure 5(A) shows the embodiment of Figure 4 with a blade-hub attached selectively to one of the hub attachment points. 15,16 and 17 (see respectively Fig 5(A), Fig 5(B) and Fig 5(C))..

Figure 5(A) shows a perspective view of the invention with the blade component 6 attached to handle component 9 at hub attachment 15, whereas 5(B) shows 6 attached to 9 at attachment 16, and 5(C) shows 6 attached to 9 at attachment 17.

Figure 6 shows an adaptor 18, (for use with current styles of scalpel blades — such as that shown in Fig 1). In this embodiment the adaptor 18 is provided with keyhole 19 to which the key 20 of a current style of scalpel handle 21 can be attached — thus allowing use of a current style handle that functions with the blade-hub component 6 attached thereto via the adaptor 18.

Figure 7 shows an adaptor with key 22 to which a current style of blade 23 can be attached. The adaptor of Fig 7 attaches to the handle 9 via a hub-part 8 and allows use of the current styles of surgical blade with handles that are also suited for use with scalpel blades as shown in Fig 2. The two further embodiments of the invention shown in Figures 8 (A^ and (B) have the axis of the blade not in line with the axis of the hub. In Fig 8(A) the plane MNOP and axis TZ of the blade 7 exists in the same plane ABCD as the axis ZR of the handle 9. In Fig 8(B), the plane MNOP of the blade 7 exists at right angles to the plane ABCD.

Figure 9 shows in perspective an example wherein the handle 9 is bent at a point along its length, in this case close to the blade-hub end. This bend allows tke scalpel to be used in restricted locations e.g. in the dental cavity. In this it is similar to the "turn" in direction that is possible to be provided in the embodiment of Figs 4,5 and Figs 8(A) and 8(B).

The handle component 9 of each above described embodiment may be non-rectilinear. It may also be flat (as with current styles of handle, e.g. Swann-Morton) , rounded (e.g. pencil-shaped, to give a pen grip), or otherwise shaped to improve use and function.

The protective sheath or cap 12 may be provided with a means of handling/gripping to assist in proper placement or removal of the blade-hub 6 with respect to the handle, as well as to assist in the correct alignment of the scalpel blade 7 in relatiojn to the scalpel handle component 9. Guides may also be provided in addition to or instead of the index marks 6a,9a as guidance for satisfactory alignment of the blade to the handle. Such guidance/assistance is exemplified by the embodiment shown in Figςure 10, where wings 24 can be engaged between thumb and forefinger to assist in removal and placement, these wings extending in the same plane as the plane of the surgical blade 7 (seen within the protective sheath 12), thereby aiding preferred blade alignment.

Figures 11-17 show various other embodiments of the invention.

In the embodiment of Fig 11 , a rod-like handle 9 terminates in a cross-kead 26 directed orthogonally to the axis of handle 9. One end of cross-head 26 is provided with an external thread 28 and a blade-and-hub combination 7,8 can be screwed onto thread 28 to extend laterally at right-angles to the handle's axis. A protective cap or sheath 12 is removably fastened to the hub 8, e.g. as by a screw-threaded arrangement.

In the embodiment of Fig 12, a similar blade-and-hub combination 7,8 — with a similarly removable sheath or protective cap 12 — is attached to a flat, rectilinear handle 9 provided with grip-enhacing indentations 9d in its side edges

The embodiment of Fig. 13 is a significantly simple construction in which the blade- and-hub combination 7,8 is screwed onto the externally threaded end 28 of a recilinear rod that constitutes the handle 9.

In the embodiment of Fig 14, connection between the removable sheath or cap 12 and the blade-and-hub combination 7,8 is as that described above (e.g. in relation to the embodiments of Fig 11 and Fig 12). However the hub 8 has a cruciform-shaped extension wing 38 protruding rearwardly and engageable. into a slot formation 39 of mating cruciform shape provided in the end of a rectilinear rod-like handle 9.

The embodiment of Fig 15 provides a globe-like head 36 at the distal end of its handle 9, this head 36 being provided with extending externally threaded spigots 35 extending from the head 36 at varying angles to the axis of handle 9. Preferably, and as shown, three such spigots 35 are provided directed orthogonally to one another (and one being co-axial, i.e. at zero degrees, to the axis of handle 9). This allows the blade-and-hub combination 7,8 — with the removable sheath or protective cap 12 — to be attached to the handle 9 in a variety of positions, e.g. axially or at 90° to the axis (of handle 9)

In the embodiment of Fig 16, a single spigot 35 is provided extending axially of a frusto-conical head 36 at the distal end of rod-like handle 9. The blade-and-hub combination 7,8 is screw-threaded onto this spigot 35.

The embodiment of Fig 17 has a flat rectilinear handle 9 having a tapered distal end provided with an externally threaded spigot 35 onto which a blade-and-hub combination 7,8 can be threaded. AIl of the above-described and illustrated examples of the invention feature components that have male and female parts that screw one onto the other. Instead of providing the blade, at its root end, with an internally threaded cylindrical recess to receive an externally threaded male spigot, the blade's root and could be provided with an externally threaded male spigot for connection with an internally threaded female recess in the handle 9, part 9b or adaptor 18. This may be particularly suitable for the embodiments of Figs 4, 5 and 15 to avoid unused spigots causing unwanted injury to the patient being operated on.

The above-described embodiments of the invention and/or modifications to them, may incorporate one or more of the following features: 1. The scalpel (which is for surgical procedures) may comprise two components, a first component which is a surgical blade rigidly attached to a screw-threaded hub, which attaches, by screwing, to a second component that is a rigid handle, via an attachment point or part located at one end of the handle (e.g. the blade-hub acts as the female-part and screws onto a threaded hub-attachment spigot of the handle, which acts as the male-part, or vice versa),. 2. The blade may be equipped with a removable protective cover or sheath, 3. The handle component may have more than one hub-attachment point or part, 4. The hub attachment may be located at different ends or at different locations on the same end of the handle, 5. A blade hub and/or a sheath may protect the blade and may be provided with wings or other means of handling to assist in placement/removal and to also assist in guidance for correct alignment of scalpel blade, 6. A handle may be couplable to an adaptor, to which current styles of blade may be attached, 7. A blade-hub component may be couplable to an adaptor that is for attachment to a conventional style of surgical handle, 8. One or more finger rests and/or placement positions may be provided to assist in use and in operation, 9. The axis of the blade may not be in line with the axis of the hub part of the blade- hub component, 10. The handle may be straight, angled or otherwise non- rectilinear, 11. The longitudinal axis and/or plane of part or all of the blade-hub component may be different to part or all of the longitudinal axis and/or plane of the handle, 12. The handle may be flat (e.g. as with current types of scalpel handle), rounded (e.g. pencil-shaped), or some other shape to optimise function and use,

Other embodiments of the invention, which will be readily apparent to those skilled in this art, are to be deemed within the ambit and scope of the invention, and the particular embodiments herein before described may be varied in construction and detail, e.g. interchanging (where appropriate or desired) different features of each, without departing from the scope of the patent monopoly hereby sought and defined in the following claims.