koppler - a new surgical stapler

The invention is to develop a new surgical stapler, koppler, for stapling of the esophagus or the colon after cancer surgery. Cancer in the esophagus or colon is usually treated by surgical removal of the tumor. The remaining ends of the healthy tissue are then stapled together using a surgical circular stapler. The problem with existing equipment is that the stapler requires an anvil to be placed in the upper part of the tissue to be stapled. The anvil is necessary to withhold the pressure from the staples and needs to be attached to the stapler before stapling. It is time-consuming to pull the anvil through the mouth and the esophagus before stapling. The diameter of the anvil is wider than the row of staples and withdrawal of the stapler and the anvil after stapling often causes the row of staples to burst causing potentially deadly leakage of gastric contents in the abdomen. The invention is an improvement of existing technology for circular stapling. The anvil will be replaced by a foldable anvil integrated into the stapler replacing the need to draw the anvil in from above. The anvil may also be folded after the stapling procedure and may therefore be removed without ripping the row of staples apart and thereby preventing leakage and potentially deadly post-surgical complications.