Clip with enclosed spring for aneurysm surgery. Technical note.

A clip for aneurysm surgery has been designed with several unique features. The coil spring is fully hidden and protected within two hub sections so that it cannot be handled or become entrapped in tissue. The clip is milled from a piece of solid stock of nonmagnetic stainless steel to the desired size and shape by a computer milling process, thus avoiding the stresses and structural weaknesses caused by the bending, curling, and milling needed to prepare clips made from wire or sheet metal. The only means of opening the clip is by applying pressure to the solid milled surfaces, thus the spring cannot be weakened or bent by squeezing it or by trauma applied to the clip. The clip may be grasped in either a clip applier that holds the clip in one fixed position or in an applier that allows the clip to be rotated through an arc of 180 degrees.