Surgical knife assembly including depth guard

DETAILED DESCRIPTION It is an object of the invention to provide a surgical knife assembly which includes a guide for limiting the depth of an incision.
It is another object of the invention to provide such a surgical knife assembly which allows a surgeon to observe an incision as it is being made.
In accordance with these and other objects of the invention, a surgical knife assembly is provided which comprises a first ski member having a front end, a rear end, and a bottom surface; a second ski member having a front end, a rear end, and a bottom surface, said bottom surface of said second ski member being substantially coplanar with said bottom surface of said first ski member, said second ski member being positioned adjacent to said first ski member; said front end of said first ski member protruding beyond said front end of said second ski member; a slot defined between said first and second ski members; a knife blade extending through said slot, at least part of said knife blade extending beyond said respective bottom surfaces of said first and second ski members; and means for connecting said first and second ski members and said knife blade.
The surgical knife assembly provided by the invention may be utilized for eye surgery.
The bottom surfaces of the ski members rest upon the outer surface of the eye as an incision is made, the depth of the incision being controlled by the relative positions of the knife blade and ski members.
Due to the position of the front edge of the knife blade with respect to the front end of the second ski member, the cutting action of the blade is more easily observed by the surgeon than where the ski members both terminate at the same plane, which is conventionally well beyond the front edge of the knife blade.