METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING AN ENDOSCOPE VIA MICROSURGICAL INSTRUMENTS WHILE PERFORMING MICROSCOPIC

摘要

The present invention relates to a surgical apparatus that includes a surgical instrument including an elongated shaft extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal end to a distal end, a working element coupled to the distal end of the elongated shaft for manipulating tissue; an endoscope having a tubular body including an image fiber, an endoscopic tens coupled to a distal end of the tubular body and operably coupled to the image fiber, the endoscopic lens defining a viewing field about a central axis; and the endoscope mounted to the elongated shaft of the surgical instrument, the endoscopic lens protruding from an outer longitudinal surface of the elongated shaft the central axis of the viewing field being oblique to the longitudinal axis of the elongated shaft and intersecting the outer longitudinal surface, the working element located within the viewing field and separated from the central axis by a distance.