Medical probe having improved maneuverability
AssigneeBiosense Webster (Israel) Ltd.
InventorsYehuda Algawi, Assaf Govari, Ilya Sitnitsky
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Abstract
A medical probe includes a shaft for insertion into a cavity of a patient body, and a distal-end assembly. The distal-end assembly is coupled to a distal end of the shaft and includes a hollow tube having (i) a first opening, located at a first section along a longitudinal axis of the hollow tube, and having a first size that limits bending of the first section by a first local radius of curvature (LROC), and (ii) a second opening, located at a second different section along the longitudinal axis of the hollow tube, and having a second different size that limits bending of the second section by a second different LROC.
Claims20
An apparatus, comprising:
- (a) a body;
- and
- (b) a hollow shaft contiguously extending distally from the body, the hollow shaft comprising:
- (i) a plurality of openings positioned at various locations along a longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft, each opening having a size that limits bending of the hollow shaft by a local radius of curvature (LROC), the hollow shaft being longitudinally integral along the plurality of openings;
- and
- (ii) at least a portion of a linkage positioned within the distal end, passing proximally-distally, wherein the linkage is configured to bend the hollow shaft.
An apparatus comprising:
- (a) a body;
- (b) a contiguous hollow shaft comprising a series of openings along the circumference of the contiguous hollow shaft;
- and
- (c) a linkage positioned to extend from the body and to the series of openings, the linkage being configured to bend the hollow shaft,
- wherein each opening of the series of openings has an axial location along the contiguous hollow shaft that is different to any other opening of the series of openings,
- wherein at least one opening of the series of openings separately comprises at least one intrusion and a corresponding protrusion for every intrusion, and
- wherein each intrusion and corresponding protrusion are configured to engage each other when the contiguous hollow shaft is in a flexed state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.