Transvaginal uterine manipulator

Claim 1

A transvaginal uterine manipulator of the type having an elongated housing having distal and proximal ends and a longitudinal axis, a tip releasably attached at said housing distal end for positioning a uterus of a patient, a handle lever rotatably mounted to said housing proximal end and a control linkage connecting said handle lever to said tip for pivoting said tip from a first position parallel to said longitudinal axis to a second position when said handle lever is rotated, and a tenaculum holder slidable on said elongated housing for attaching a tenaculum having proximal and distal ends to grip and hold said patient's cervix; wherein the improvement comprises: a) means for applying a constant axial pulling force on said tenaculum holder toward said housing proximal end thereby causing a constant tension on said patient's cervix when said holder engages said tenaculum proximal end and said tenaculum distal end is attached to grip and hold said patient's cervix, b) means for indicating arcuate position of said tip at said housing proximal end, c) a connection between said handle lever and said control linkage connecting said handle lever to said tip wherein arcuate rotation of said handle lever produces substantially identical arcuate pivoting motion to said tip, and d) locking means comprising an unlocking arm pivotally attached to said handle lever for selectively maintaining or releasing said handle lever from a locked pivoted position relative to said housing longitudinal axis.