ELONGATED ASSEMBLIES FOR SURGICAL CLIP APPLIERS AND SURGICAL CLIP APPLIERS INCORPORATING THE SAME

摘要

A surgical clip applier and an elongated assembly thereof. The elongated assembly includes an outer shaft, an end effector assembly extending distally from the outer shaft and including first and second spaced-apart arms having respective first and second jaws disposed at free ends thereof, and an inner drive sleeve disposed within the outer shaft including a bearing assembly slidably disposed about the end effector assembly. The bearing assembly includes first ball bearing(s) and second ball bearing(s) positioned adjacent the first and second spaced-apart arms, respectively. Sliding of the bearing assembly from a proximal position to a distal position rolls the first and second ball bearings about the spaced-apart arms to urge the arms towards one another, thereby moving the first and second jaws from a spaced-apart position to an approximated position to apply a surgical clip about tissue disposed between the first and second jaws.