CN114767330A

CN114767330A - ICL crystal preloading implantation device

Info

Publication number: CN114767330A
Application number: CN202210709825.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李福生; 赵敏; 于泓; 周跃华; 陶冶; 王燊; 李培高; 张晶; 尹鸿芝; 盖姗姗
Original assignee: Beijing Mingshi Ophthalmology Hospital Management Co ltd
Current assignee: Beijing Mingshi Ophthalmology Hospital Management Co ltd
Priority date: 2022-06-22
Filing date: 2022-06-22
Publication date: 2022-07-22
Anticipated expiration: 2042-06-22
Also published as: CN114767330B

Abstract

The invention discloses an ICL crystal preloading implantation device, which comprises an injector, wherein a detachable preloading mechanism is arranged in the middle of the injector, the preloading mechanism comprises a deformation barrel, the deformation barrel can be deformed to have a preloading position and an implantation position, in the preloading position, a vertical flat cavity is formed inside the deformation barrel for vertical loading of an ICL crystal, and in the implantation position, the deformation barrel is pressed and deformed to fold the ICL crystal. According to the ICL crystal preloading implantation device, the ICL crystal is loaded into the deformation cylinder at the preloading position, and then the deformation cylinder is extruded to automatically realize folding, so that the ICL crystal is preloaded, and no matter the preloading is carried out before an operation or the temporary loading is carried out during the operation, the operation time is shorter, the operation time is saved, and the difficulty is reduced.

Description

ICL crystal preloading implantation device

Technical Field

The invention relates to the field of ophthalmic medical treatment, in particular to an ICL crystal preloaded implantation device.

Background

The ICL crystal is translated into Chinese and is an implantable contact lens, and the characteristics of minimally invasive and reversible are that. It contains a specific collagen copolymer, which allows natural harmony of the lens and the eye. The crystal is soft and elastic, can be easily implanted into eyes while keeping natural comfort, and has an ultraviolet-proof function. The implantation site for the ICL was between the posterior chamber of the eye, the iris and the lens. ICL is considered to be one of the latest and safest products for correcting myopia, which is considered to be a product for refractive correction that can compensate for LASIK, PRK and other ablation procedures, and is now widely used in the united states. It can be used to correct a wide range of myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism without the need to remove or destroy corneal tissue and without the need for post-operative suturing. The ICL material is hydrophilic collagen with high biocompatibility, hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) is a collagen polymer for short, and the material has the greatest characteristic that a layer of fibrin can be naturally deposited on the surface of the ICL, and the fibrin can inhibit the integration of a protein water solution. The diameter of the ICL optical part is 4.9-5.8 mm, the crystal is ultrathin, the thinnest position is only 50 micrometers, the optical property is close to that of a natural crystalline lens, ultraviolet rays can be absorbed, and the ICL optical part can be folded and taken out.

There are several methods known today to implant an ICL into an eye, such as a surgeon placing an eyelid opener under surface anesthesia, opening the upper and lower eyelids, making a three millimeter two section clear corneal incision at the limbus after rinsing the conjunctival sac, injecting viscoelastic from the corneal incision into the anterior chamber, then inserting an ICL that has been measured to a calculated degree in advance into the eye from the corneal incision with surgical forceps, adjusting the ICL4 haptics to be positioned under the iris, aspirating the viscoelastic from the anterior chamber, contracting the pupil, removing the eyelid opener after a watertight corneal incision, which is a simpler procedure. There are also ICL insertion devices that are used by surgeons to insert an ICL into the eye through an incision and then inject it into the eye, which have the benefit that the incision diameter required for the ICL insertion device (e.g., less than about 3 mm) is less than that required with surgical forceps (e.g., about 3.2 to 5+ mm), and a smaller incision is more conducive to post-operative recovery.

Also disclosed is a method of packaging an intraocular lens in a portion of an intraocular lens injection device, as disclosed in patent publication No. CN101094625B, published 26.2007 under the name preloaded IOL injector and method, wherein a first step provides a distal nozzle section, a second step places a hub in removable, covering relation over at least a portion of the distal nozzle section and places the distal nozzle section and hub in packaging, a third step provides a shuttle and positions an intraocular lens therein, and a fourth step deposits the shuttle and intraocular lens in a vial containing a storage solution and seals the vial. The injector device includes means for compressing or otherwise forcing the IOL into a smaller cross-section for delivery through the injector, the shuttle and nozzle passageway being configured for distal insertion with a narrowing conical portion at the tip. The plunger is advanced at the proximal end of the injector device so that the distal end of the plunger engages the IOL optic. As the plunger is further advanced, the IOL is pushed through the narrowing channel, thereby compressing the IOL into a smaller cross-section and eventually exiting at the distal end of the injector body and being extruded into the eye in the desired manner.

Including the device including above-mentioned patent weak point lies in, when carrying out the crystal operation through inserting or pushing injection, the ICL crystal is born in a xiLin bottle, before pushing injection operation, the manual ICL crystal of doctor takes out from xiLin bottle and loads into the injector, carries out folding processing to the ICL crystal simultaneously at this in-process, and is doubtless, and this has prolonged the operation time, has brought the inconvenience.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide an ICL lens preloaded implant device that addresses the above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art.

In order to achieve the above purpose, the invention provides the following technical scheme:

an ICL crystal pre-load implantation device, comprising an injector, the injector having a detachable pre-load mechanism disposed in the middle, the pre-load mechanism comprising a deformable cartridge that is deformable to have a pre-load position in which a vertical flat cavity is formed inside the deformable cartridge for vertical loading of an ICL crystal, and an implant position in which the deformable cartridge is crushed to deform to collapse the ICL crystal.

In the ICL crystal preloading implantation device, the pushing-out cavity is formed inside the front section of the pushing-out device, and two side walls of the pushing-out cavity are respectively provided with a protruding part for limiting the ICL crystal to prevent the ICL crystal from rotating when being pushed out.

The above-described ICL lens preloaded implant device further comprises a compression device that compresses the deformation cylinder to drive it from the preloaded position to the implanted position.

The ICL crystal pre-loading implantation device comprises a pressing device and a force application part, wherein the force application part is fixedly connected to the force application part, and the force application part presses the deformation cylinder.

According to the ICL crystal preloading implantation device, the deformation cylinder is formed by splicing the first arc-shaped section and the second arc-shaped section.

In the ICL crystal pre-loading implantation device, one end, close to the push-out cavity, of the vertical flat cavity is provided with two flexible fins extending towards the push-out cavity.

The above-described ICL crystal preloaded implant device, said first arcuate segment rolled up to form a loading chamber to allow said preloading mechanism to be moved from said preloaded position to an implanted position.

According to the ICL crystal preloading implantation device, the deformation cylinder is provided with the opening, and the opening is used for butting the bottle mouth of a penicillin bottle loaded with the ICL crystal.

In the ICL crystal pre-loading implantation device, a pipeline is arranged in the opening, one end of the pipeline is abutted to the bottom of the penicillin bottle, and the other end of the pipeline is located outside the deformation cylinder.

In the ICL crystal pre-loading implantation device, the first arc-shaped section is provided with an avoiding groove so that the pipeline can enter the loading cavity.

In the technical scheme, the ICL crystal preloading implanting device provided by the invention loads the ICL crystal into the deformation cylinder at the preloading position, and then presses the deformation cylinder to automatically realize folding, so that the ICL crystal preloading is realized, the operation time is shorter no matter the pre-loading is carried out before an operation or the temporary loading is carried out during the operation, the operation time is saved, and the difficulty is reduced.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required in the embodiments will be briefly described below, it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments described in the present invention, and other drawings can be obtained by those skilled in the art according to these drawings.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an ICL crystal preloading device in a preloading position according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an ICL crystal preloading device at an implantation site, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a push-out chamber provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a deformation drum according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a deformable cartridge in a pre-loading position of an ICL crystal pre-loading apparatus provided in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a deformable sleeve with an ICL crystal preloading device in an implantation position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Description of reference numerals:

1. a push-out cavity; 2. a first arcuate segment; 3. a second arcuate segment; 4. a push rod; 5. penicillin bottles; 6. an arc-shaped body; 7. a long rod; 8. a deformable cylinder; 9. a pipeline; 10. a boss portion; 11. an avoidance groove; 12. a flexible flap.

Detailed Description

In order to make those skilled in the art better understand the technical solution of the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in fig. 1-6, an embodiment of the invention provides an ICL crystal preloading implantation device, which comprises an injector, wherein a detachable preloading mechanism is arranged in the middle of the injector, the preloading mechanism comprises a deformation barrel 8, the deformation barrel 8 can be deformed to have a preloading position and an implanting position, in the preloading position, a vertical flat cavity is formed inside the deformation barrel 8 for vertical loading of the ICL crystal, and in the implanting position, the deformation barrel 8 is pressed and deformed to fold the ICL crystal.

Specifically, the injector comprises main part and pushing ram 4, and the main part is tubular structure, and its inside axial runs through be provided with one and inject the passageway, and pushing ram 4 sliding connection is in order to inject the ICL crystal that loads into in injecting the passageway into patient intraocular in this injection passageway, and tubular structure's middle part is provided with the chamber of preloading in order to supply the mechanism of preloading to arrange, and the chamber of preloading is the open cavity of open-top. The pre-loading mechanism is used for storing the ICL crystal in a folded state in the injector before operation, and the ICL crystal can be directly used when the operation is needed so as to reduce the operation time. The pre-loading mechanism further comprises an elastically deformable cylinder 8 arranged in the pre-loading chamber, the elastically deformable cylinder 8 being deformable and having two positions in a deformation stroke: the device comprises a pre-loading position and an implanting position, wherein a deformation cylinder 8 comprises a first arc section 2 and a second arc section 3 which are connected, the first arc section 2 and the second arc section 3 are both arc-shaped, in the pre-loading position, the first arc section 2 and the second arc section 3 are arranged in a U shape, two arms of the U shape are respectively the first arc section 2 (the arc bottom of the U shape also belongs to the first arc section 2) and the second arc section 3, a vertical flat cavity is formed between the first arc section 2 and the second arc section 3 and also inside the U shape, the width of the vertical flat cavity, namely the width of a middle groove of the U shape, is smaller than the diameter of an ICL crystal, so that the ICL crystal can be unfolded vertically and placed in the vertical flat cavity, namely the vertical flat cavity is used for limiting the ICL crystal to enable the ICL crystal to be in a vertical standing state when being loaded. In the implantation position, the deformation cylinder 8 is deformed, the first arc-shaped section 2 is driven by extrusion to enable two ends to be bent and rolled up to form a loading cavity, wherein the two ends refer to a side edge connected with the second arc-shaped section 3 on the first arc-shaped section 2 and a side edge connected with the second arc-shaped section 2, the two side edges are extruded to be relatively close to enable the inner side of the first arc-shaped section 2 to form the loading cavity, obviously, the size of the loading cavity is smaller than that of a vertical flat cavity, the ICL crystal is extruded and folded in half to complete preloading through the extrusion process of the first arc-shaped section 2, and the second arc-shaped section 3 is not extruded actively. Therefore, before an operation, the ICL crystal is clamped into the deformation cylinder 8 at the pre-loading position by medical forceps by a surgeon, the ICL crystal is located in the vertical flat cavity, when the operation is prepared or performed, the deformation cylinder 8 is formed by extruding and deforming the first arc-shaped section 2, the ICL crystal is located in the loading cavity, the surgeon pushes the push rod 4, and the push rod 4 pushes the ICL crystal to enter the push-out cavity 1 at the front section of the main body until the ICL crystal is pushed into the eye of a patient through the loading cavity. The most central point in the embodiment is that the ICL crystal enters the implantation position from the pre-loading position, namely the deformation cylinder is deformed from the pre-loading position to the implantation position, the first arc-shaped section 2 is extruded into a cylinder shape by the extrusion device to form a loading cavity, and the ICL crystal is automatically folded at the implantation position due to the extrusion of the first arc-shaped section 2, so that the ICL crystal pre-loading can save a great deal of time during the operation.

In the embodiment, in the pre-loading position, the height dimension of the vertical flat cavity is larger than the radial dimension of the injection channel, the bottom of the vertical flat cavity is aligned with the injection channel, and after the injection position is performed, the radial dimension of the loading cavity is equal to or about larger than the radial dimension of the injection channel and the two are aligned, and the dimension of the loading cavity is obviously smaller than that of the ICL crystal in the unfolding state, so that the ICL crystal is forced to enter the folding state in the process of entering the implantation position from the pre-loading position, and the push rod 4 can enter the loading cavity from one end of the injection channel to push the folded ICL crystal into the other end of the injection channel and finally enter the human eye. Or the ICL crystal does not enter an ideal folding state, for example, a gap is formed between two halves of the ICL crystal, the first arc-shaped section 2 can be manually extruded for the second time to be folded, and the ICL crystal can be well protected by non-contact extrusion.

According to the ICL crystal preloading implantation device provided by the embodiment of the invention, the ICL crystal is loaded into the deformation cylinder 8 at the preloading position, and then the deformation cylinder is extruded to automatically realize folding, so that the ICL crystal is preloaded, and the operation time is shorter no matter the ICL crystal is preloaded before an operation or temporarily loaded during the operation, the operation time is saved, and the difficulty is reduced.

In one embodiment of the invention, as shown in fig. 3, a push-out cavity 1 is formed in the front section of the injector, two side walls of the push-out cavity 1 are respectively provided with a convex part 10, when a surgeon starts an eye operation, the surgeon drives a push rod 4 to push an ICL crystal in a folded state to move along a main body towards the push-out cavity 1, after the ICL crystal enters the push-out cavity 1, the ICL crystal is limited by the convex parts 10 arranged at two sides of the push-out cavity 1 and cannot rotate in the push-out cavity 1 and keep in the folded state, and when the ICL crystal is implanted into an eye from the push-out cavity 1 through an incision, the ICL crystal changes from the folded state to an extended state in the eye, so that the ICL crystal cannot rotate in the injector to cause readjustment or even failure of the operation in the implantation of the eye.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the present invention further comprises an extruding apparatus, the extruding apparatus comprises a force applying component and a force receiving component, the force receiving component is connected to the outer wall of the first arc-shaped section 2, the force applying component is connected to the force receiving component, preferably, the force receiving component is an arc-shaped body 6 adapted to the outer wall of the first arc-shaped section 2, the force applying component is a long rod 7 and is fixedly connected to the arc-shaped body 6, the function of the force applying component is to deform the deformation cylinder 8 from the pre-loading position to the implantation device, in the pre-loading position, the deformation cylinder 8 is U-shaped, when the deformation cylinder enters the implantation position, the extruding apparatus extrudes the first arc-shaped section 2 to deform the first arc-shaped section 2, the operator manually drives the long rod 7 to extrude the arc-shaped body 6 to the first arc-shaped section 2, the first arc-shaped section 2 is extruded to make the open end of the first arc-shaped section approach to the second arc-shaped section and slide along the inner wall of the second arc-shaped section, and finally, the two ends of the first arc-shaped section 2 approach to each other, so become the tube-shape by the arc form for the deformation section of thick bamboo is by the position entering implantation position of preloading, and in order to let the ICL crystal that gets into in the deformation section of thick bamboo 8 produce the folding during the purpose of this operation, so realize the preloading of ICL crystal, make save time in the operation process, improve operation efficiency.

In this embodiment, because the ICL crystal is arc, it has outer convex surface and interior concave surface, when carrying out the preloading, extrude its outer convex surface so that the two halves of interior concave surface laminate, in the preceding embodiment ICL crystal arbitrary face insert in vertical flat cavity can, because there is not the difference in the both sides of vertical flat cavity, arbitrary one side can all be extruded, the first segmental arc 2 is called to extruded one side, extrude during the extrusion outer convex surface can, but in this embodiment, when putting the ICL crystal into vertical flat cavity, need to have its outer convex surface orientation one side of extrusion device, because extrude through the extrusion device machine this moment, including subsequent automatic loading embodiment, when the storage bottle is loaded like xiLin bottle, need observe the outer convex surface orientation of ICL crystal in advance, ensure that the exact position is arranged.

In another embodiment of the present invention, passive loading of the ICL crystal is implemented, that is, it is not necessary to clamp the ICL crystal with tweezers to prevent damage to the ICL crystal, the ICL crystal is stored in a storage bottle (not shown in the drawings), the storage bottle is placed above a vertical flat cavity, a docking port adapted to the shape of the mouth of the storage bottle is arranged at the top of the vertical flat cavity, if the width of the opening of the vertical flat cavity is smaller than the diameter of the mouth of the storage bottle, then an arc-shaped protruding portion is arranged on the opening of the vertical flat cavity, the shape of the arc-shaped protruding portion is identical to the shape of the mouth, and a docking port is located between the two arc-shaped protruding portions. In the prior art, most storage bottles are penicillin bottles, each penicillin bottle is provided with a necking, passive loading is inconvenient, and preferably, the storage bottles without the necking are configured, and the upper radial size and the lower radial size of each storage bottle are consistent. Comparatively simple method is for invering the storage bottle in vertical flat cavity top, and inside operating personnel beaten the bottle end of storage bottle and make the ICL crystal get into vertical flat cavity under the effect of gravity, the ICL crystal gets into vertical flat cavity and carries out subsequent pre-folding operation and is extruded folding, and it is unnecessary to give redundant details.

Further, as shown in fig. 2, the ICL crystal is also stored in the vial 5 in the prior art, and it may be difficult to make the ICL crystal enter the vertical flat cavity by the above-mentioned beating operation, and further, a flexible flap 12 extending toward the pushing cavity 1 is disposed at an end of the vertical flat cavity close to the pushing cavity 1, that is, a flexible flap 12 is disposed on the second arc-shaped section 3. When the pre-loading is carried out, a surgeon inverts the penicillin bottle 5 on the butt joint port of the vertical flat cavity, meanwhile, the second arc-shaped section 2 is provided with the pipeline 9, one end of the pipeline 9 extends into the push-out cavity 1 and is a liquid inlet end, the other end of the pipeline 9 vertically extends out of the butt joint port and is a liquid discharge end, a liquid discharge port is arranged on the side wall of the liquid discharge end, when the pre-loading is carried out, the bottle mouth of the penicillin bottle 5 is butted on the butt joint port, at the moment, the liquid discharge end of the pipeline 9 enters the penicillin bottle 5, the liquid discharge end of the pipeline 9 is butted against the bottle bottom of the penicillin bottle 5 to indicate that the penicillin bottle 5 is installed in place, the liquid discharge end plays a limiting role, the advantage that the pipeline 9 is butted against the bottle bottom of the penicillin bottle 5 can achieve a limiting effect, when an operator puts the penicillin bottle 5 on the loading cavity upside down, the pushing rod 4 is pulled backwards to suck the vertical flat cavity, under the suction effect, the flexible wing 12 bends towards the direction departing from the push-out cavity 1 and is butted to close or basically close the communication between the front part of the vertical flat cavity and the push-out cavity 1, so that along with the suction, the liquid in the penicillin bottle 5 and the ICL crystal are forced to enter the vertical flat cavity, and in the suction process, the liquid in the push-out cavity 1 enters the penicillin bottle 5 through the pipeline 9 to ensure that the ICL crystal and the liquid in the penicillin bottle 5 can smoothly enter the vertical flat cavity (the vertical flat cavity and the push-out cavity 1 are filled with the liquid in the pre-loading process, which is common knowledge and is not repeated). 9 butts of pipeline can support xiLin bottle 5 and not let it drop, and the feed liquor end of pipeline 9 is located the outside effect that a intercommunication was played to a deformation section of thick bamboo 8, contains stock solution and ICL crystal in xiLin bottle 5, because xiLin bottle 5 communicates outside through pipeline 9, the stock solution in xiLin bottle 5 is taken out to pushing out 1 direction in the chamber, and surgeon's pulling push rod 4 outwards at this moment takes out the ICL crystal in the xiLin bottle 5 to vertical flat cavity. When a deformation section of thick bamboo 8 warp to implant the position by pre-loading position, first segmental arc 2 warp and curl up, because of flexible fin 12 is flexible material, first segmental arc 2 can extrude flexible fin 12 that is located on second segmental arc 3 and make flexible fin 12 be extruded to warp and laminate in order to prevent that it from blockking the loading chamber on second segmental arc 3, be provided with on the first segmental arc 2 simultaneously and dodge groove 11 in order to dodge pipeline 9 when coiling.

In another embodiment provided by the invention, the middle part of the pipeline 9 is divided into two parts, namely the liquid inlet section of the pipeline 9 is one, and the liquid discharge ends are two, so that the arrangement is used for observing the position of the ICL crystal before butt joint, and then the two liquid discharge ends are respectively arranged at two opposite sides of the ICL crystal during butt joint, and the two liquid discharge ends form a guide limit structure of the ICL crystal to ensure that the ICL crystal is vertically sucked into the vertical deformation cavity.

Further, pipeline 9 is two, two pipelines set up side by side, this is the feed liquor end two, the flowing back section is also two, and feed liquor end two connect the bellying 10 of pushing out 1 both sides respectively, the ICL crystal is sucked vertical flat cavity, the ICL crystal gets into fold condition afterwards, when surgeon carries out eye operation, in drive pushing ram 4 promotion ICL crystal entering pushing out chamber 1, two pipelines are the one-to-one respectively connect two bellying and form continuous two limit structure, because the feed liquor end is located the both sides of pushing out chamber 1, this direction limit structure who has also constituted the ICL crystal, by vertical the pushing out in the pushing out intracavity when having guaranteed ICL crystal fold condition.

It is evident that, as shown in fig. 4, the conduit 9 presents an obstacle when the first arc-shaped segment 2 is deformed, an avoidance slot 11 being provided on the first arc-shaped segment 2, through which avoidance slot 11 the conduit 9 passes to avoid interference when the first arc-shaped segment is in the implantation position from the pre-loading position.

While certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been described above by way of illustration only, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, the drawings and description are illustrative in nature and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. An ICL crystal pre-loading implantation device, comprising an injector, characterized in that the injector is provided with a detachable pre-loading mechanism in the middle, the pre-loading mechanism comprises a deformation cylinder which can be deformed to have a pre-loading position and an implantation position, in the pre-loading position, the deformation cylinder forms a vertical flat cavity inside for vertical loading of an ICL crystal, and in the implantation position, the deformation cylinder is pressed to deform to fold the ICL crystal.

2. An ICL crystal preloading implantation device as in claim 1, wherein the injector has a push-out chamber formed within the anterior segment thereof, and wherein a protrusion is provided on each of the two side walls of the push-out chamber to limit rotation of the ICL crystal during its push-out.

3. The ICL crystal pre-load implantation device of claim 1, further comprising a compression device that compresses the deformation cartridge to drive its deformation from a pre-load position to an implantation position.

4. An ICL crystal pre-load implantation device according to claim 3, wherein said compression means comprises a force application member and a force receiving member, said force application member being affixed to said force receiving member, said force receiving member compressing said deformable sleeve.

5. An ICL crystal pre-load implantation device according to claim 2, wherein said deformable sleeve is constructed from a first arcuate segment and a second arcuate segment that are spliced together.

6. An ICL crystal pre-load implantation device according to claim 2, wherein said vertically flat chamber body is provided with two flexible tabs extending in a direction towards said ejection chamber at an end thereof adjacent to said ejection chamber.

7. An ICL crystal preload implantation apparatus as in claim 5, wherein said first arcuate segment is rolled to form a loading chamber to enable said preload mechanism to be moved from said preload position to an implantation position.

8. The ICL crystal pre-load implantation device of claim 7, wherein the deformable sleeve is provided with an opening for abutting a vial mouth of a vial loaded with an ICL crystal.

9. An ICL crystal preloaded implantation device according to claim 8, wherein said opening has a conduit disposed therein, one end of said conduit abutting the bottom of a vial of penicillin bottles, the other end of said conduit being positioned within an ejection chamber.

10. An ICL crystal pre-load implant device in accordance with claim 9, wherein an avoidance slot is provided on said first arcuate segment to facilitate entry of said conduit into said loading chamber.