Surgical suction wand

1. A suction wand for use in aspirating a surgical site during a surgical operation involving cutting of tissue which yields debris, the suction wand comprising:

a handle;

a head portion attached to the handle at a connection, wherein the head portion comprises a tubular member;

a suction conduit at least partially disposed in the head portion and partially defining a suction path;

a suction tip at a free end of the suction conduit remote from the handle, wherein the suction path extends from the suction tip to a vacuum source end of the suction path remote from the suction tip;

a filter screen for retaining debris, wherein the filter screen comprises a surface with holes perforated therein and is disposed in the suction path at the suction tip and has a first side facing a tip direction and an opposite second side facing a vacuum source direction;

a positive pressure conduit in the head portion through which fluid flows and is directed into the suction conduit in a direction toward the tip such that fluid flows in the tip direction for expelling debris from the tip; and

a conduit valve operable between an open position in which fluid flows through the positive pressure conduit and into the suction conduit toward the suction tip and a closed position in which fluid does not flow into the suction conduit;

wherein the positive pressure conduit has a longitudinal axis which is coincident with a longitudinal axis of the suction path along a majority of the length of the tubular member of the head portion.

2. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the surface of the screen is flush with the tip.

3. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the surface of the screen is slightly inset from the plane of the tip.

4. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the screen has a ratio of the total entrance area of holes to solid area on the screen between 0.2 and 0.6.

5. The suction wand of claim 4 wherein the screen has a ratio of the total entrance area of holes to total area of between 0.4 and 1.

6. A suction wand for use in aspirating a surgical site during a surgical operation involving cutting of tissue which yields debris, the suction wand comprising:

a handle;

a head portion attached to the handle at a connection, wherein the head portion comprises a tubular member;

a suction conduit at least partially disposed in the head portion and partially defining a suction path;

a suction tip at a free end of the suction conduit remote from the handle, wherein the suction path extends from the suction tip to a vacuum source end of the suction path remote from the suction tip;

a filter screen for retaining debris, wherein the filter screen comprises a surface with holes perforated therein and is disposed in the suction path at the suction tip and has a first side facing a tip direction and an opposite second side facing a vacuum source direction;

a positive pressure conduit in the head portion through which fluid flows and is directed into the suction conduit in a direction toward the tip such that fluid flows in the tip direction for expelling debris from the tip; and

a conduit valve operable between an open position in which fluid flows through the positive pressure conduit and into the suction conduit toward the suction tip and a closed position in which fluid does not flow into the suction conduit, wherein

the positive pressure conduit has a longitudinal axis which is coincident or parallel with a longitudinal axis of the suction path and is disposed within the suction conduit along the majority of the length of the tubular member of the head portion.

7. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the wherein the positive pressure conduit and the suction conduit define distinct lumens.

8. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein a portion of the positive pressure conduit is fixed within the tubular member of the head portion in spaced apart alignment with the filter screen.

9. The suction wand of claim 8 wherein the portion of the positive pressure conduit is fixed within the tubular member of the head portion such that the longitudinal axis of the positive pressure conduit along the portion is fixedly oriented substantially orthogonally to surface of the filter screen.

10. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the conduit valve comprises an actuator, the actuator being disposed on the handle.

11. The suction wand of claim 1 wherein the head portion connects to the handle at a distal end of the handle and extends distally away from the handle.