| abstract |
A post-occlusion chamber collapse canceling system for a surgical apparatus that detects the breaking of occlusions by tissue fragments in the distal end of the aspiration path and produces a response comprising a transitory blockage of the distal end the aspiration path to terminate the chamber collapse and a simultaneous transitory venting of the aspiration line to relieve the vacuum, in a way that post-occlusion chamber collapses are cancelled. Disclosed herein, in a preferred embodiment, is a surgical system and related method for preventing collapse of a body chamber being operated upon, due to a vacuum surge following a clearing of an occlusion in an aspiration path of the surgical system, comprising: an occlusion-break sensor (300) for sensing the clearing of the occlusion; a normally-open occlusion valve (57), temporarily closing in response to the occlusion-break sensor sensing the clearing of the occlusion, thereby occluding fluid flow through the aspiration path and controllably stabilizing the occlusion break, thereby preventing the vacuum surge and consequent body chamber collapse; and a normally- closed venting valve temporarily opening in response to the occlusion-break sensor sensing the clearing of the occlusion, to reduce the vacuum thereby preventing the vacuum surge and consequent body chamber collapse. In an alternative embodiment, the normally-open occlusion valve may be omitted. |