Endoscope guiding device
AssigneeZoom Medical, L.L.C.
InventorsDrake Koch, Michael Armentrout, William Hartong, Gene Armentrout
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An endoscope guiding device has a main wire body made of nitinol memory wire to retain its shape after bending, a handle fixed to the proximal end of the wire body and, at the distal end a rounded tip and adjacent to the distal end a reduced diameter end portion and a transition zone leading from the reduced diameter end portion to the larger diameter of the main body portion of the wire body. The rounded tip, reduced diameter portion and the transition zone are formed by centerless grinding. The guiding device is inserted into an endoscope and stiffens the endoscope sufficiently to allow the endoscope to be guided, for example, through a colon or intestine readily.
Claims20
An endoscope guiding device comprising a wire body having a proximal end and means for reducing the stiffness of a distal end portion of said wire body.
An endoscope guiding device comprising wire body having a proximal end and a distal end and a reduced diameter portion adjacent to said distal end a tapered transition zone between said reduced diameter portion and the remaining length of said wire body.
An endoscope guiding device comprising wire body having a proximal end and a distal end and a reduced diameter portion adjacent to said distal end a tapered transition zone between said reduced diameter portion and the remaining length of said wire body.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.