BACKGROUND

Endoscopes are well-known in the medical arts and are commonly used for numerous medical procedures. One such procedure is removing objects from the inside of a human subject, such as for example, foreign bodies, excised human tissues from the wall of the gastrointestinal tract, and previously inserted medical objects, such as stents. One conventional technique for removing objects is using a grasping tool in an endoscopic procedure.

Conventional endoscopic grasping devices have one or two jaws which pivot relative to a base. The jaw or jaws at the distal end of the device may be pivoted by a user operating a handle at a proximal end of the device and at a proximal location outside of the endoscope. The object may be held by the jaws while the endoscope, grasping device, and object are removed from the patient.

The success of the user to grasp and retain objects during the procedure is dependent on several factors, including the shape and structure of the jaws.

SUMMARY

The present application describes a tool for use with an endoscope to grasp objects in the gastrointestinal tract.

In an exemplary embodiment, the endoscopic grasping device includes a fork, a first jaw having a set of teeth, and a second jaw having a set of teeth. The first jaw and the second are mounted about a pivot point on the fork and operable between an open position and a closed position.

