Surgical adapter assembly for use with endoscope

1. A surgical adapter for connecting a medical instrument to an endoscope, the surgical adapter comprising:

a housing portion configured with a distal attachment portion; and

an advancing assembly at least partially disposed within the housing portion, the advancing assembly having a selectively operable rotating member, an advancing shaft, and a shaft connector;

wherein a proximal end of the distal attachment portion is operably connected to the shaft connector and a distal end member configured to be operably attached to a proximal portion of an endoscope; and

wherein the advancing shaft is rotatably received within the shaft connector and wherein the shaft connector is non-rotatably mounted within the housing portion via an axial engagement slot formed within a body of the shaft connector, wherein the axial engagement slot is configured for receiving at least one corresponding axial tab member formed in the housing portion such that the tab member may slide axially along the engagement slot;

wherein the surgical adapter is configured such that a portion of a medical instrument is receivable within the housing portion so as to be operably engaged with the advancing assembly such that the advancing assembly may be selectively actuated to selectively rotate the advancing shaft within the shaft connector so as to axially move a distal end of the medical instrument with respect to the endoscope.

2. The surgical adapter of claim 1 , wherein the distal end member further includes a shaft member extending therethrough, the shaft member defining a passageway through which the portion of the medical device may extend.

3. The surgical adapter of claim 1 , wherein the rotating member includes a gear member, a dial member, and an advancing shaft, wherein the gear member is mounted for rotational movement within the housing portion, the dial member is mounted to engage with the gear member, and the advancing shaft is fixedly secured to the gear member.

4. The surgical adapter of claim 3 , wherein the advancing assembly further comprises one of a wave spring member and thrust washer that serves to bias the advancing assembly.

5. The surgical adapter of claim 3 , wherein the shaft connector is fixedly positioned within the housing portion.

6. The surgical adapter of claim 1 , wherein the distal attachment portion is defined by a mounting groove member that is selectively engageable with the proximal portion of the endoscope.

7. The surgical adapter of claim 6 , wherein the distal attachment portion is fixedly connected to the shaft connector.

8. The surgical adapter of claim 6 , wherein the rotating member includes a gear member, a dial member, and an advancing shaft, wherein the gear member is mounted for rotational movement in a first direction, the dial member is mounted to engage with the gear member, and the advancing shaft is fixedly secured to the gear member.

9. The surgical adapter of claim 8 , wherein the advancing assembly further comprises one of a wave spring member and thrust washer that serves to bias the advancing assembly.

10. A surgical adapter for connecting a medical instrument to an endoscope, the surgical adapter comprising:

a housing portion configured with a distal attachment portion;

wherein the distal attachment portion is defined by a proximal end and a distal cap member, wherein the distal cap member may be selectively engaged with a proximal portion of an endoscope;

an advancing assembly at least partially disposed within the housing portion, the advancing assembly having a selectively operable rotating member, an advancing shaft, and a shaft connector, wherein the proximal end of the distal attachment portion is operably connected to the shaft connector on one end;

wherein the advancing shaft is rotatably received within the shaft connector and wherein the shaft connector is non-rotatably mounted within the housing portion via an axial engagement slot formed within a body of the shaft connector, wherein the axial engagement slot is configured for receiving at least one corresponding axial tab member formed in the housing portion such that the tab member may slide axially within the engagement slot; and

wherein the surgical adapter is configured such that a portion of a medical instrument is receivable within the housing portion so as to be operably engaged with the advancing assembly such that the advancing assembly may be selectively actuated to selectively rotate the advancing shaft within the shaft connector so as to axially move a distal end of the medical instrument with respect to the endoscope.

11. The surgical adapter of claim 10 , wherein the rotating member includes a gear member, a dial member, and an advancing shaft, wherein the gear member is mounted for rotational movement within the housing portion, the dial member is mounted to engage with the gear member, and the advancing shaft is fixedly secured to the gear member.

12. The surgical adapter of claim 11 , wherein the advancing assembly further comprises one of a wave spring member and thrust washer that serves to bias the advancing assembly.

13. The surgical adapter of claim 11 , wherein the shaft connector is fixedly positioned within the housing portion.

14. The surgical adapter of claim 10 , wherein the cap member further includes a shaft member extending therethrough, the shaft member defining a passageway through which the portion of the medical device may extend.

15. The surgical adapter of claim 10 , wherein the distal attachment portion is defined by a mounting groove member that is selectively engageable with the proximal portion of the endoscope.

16. The surgical adapter of claim 15 , wherein the distal attachment portion is fixedly connected to the shaft connector.

17. A surgical assembly comprising:

a surgical adapter comprising:

a housing portion configured with a distal attachment portion; and

an advancing assembly at least partially disposed within the housing portion, the advancing assembly having a selectively operable rotating member, an advancing shaft, and a shaft connector, wherein a proximal end of the distal attachment portion is operably connected to the shaft connector on one end;

wherein the advancing shaft is rotatably received within the shaft connector and wherein the shaft connector is non-rotatably mounted within the housing portion via an axial engagement slot formed within a body of the shaft connector, wherein the axial engagement slot is configured for receiving at least one corresponding axial tab member formed in the housing portion such that the tab member may axially slide within the engagement slot;

an endoscope having a proximal portion, the proximal portion is configured to be operably attached to the distal attachment portion of the surgical adapter; and

a medical instrument having a distal end, the distal end configured to be received by the housing portion of the surgical adapter so as to be operably engaged with the advancing assembly such that the advancing assembly may be selectively actuated to selectively rotate the advancing shaft within the shaft connector so as to axially move the distal end of the medical instrument with respect to the endoscope.