Drive assembly for use in a robotic control and guidance system

A drive assembly for use in a robotically controlled medical device guidance system, comprising:

• a medical device cartridge including an outer housing and a rotatable medical device assembly disposed within said outer housing, said rotatable medical device assembly comprising:
• an elongate medical device having a proximal end and a distal end;
• a housing having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis extending therethrough, wherein said proximal end of said elongate medical device is disposed within said housing and said housing further comprises an opening disposed in said first end thereof through which said elongate medical device extends outwardly from said housing in an axial direction relative to said longitudinal axis;
• and a drive interface coupled with said housing of said rotatable medical device assembly;
• and
• a manipulation base, said manipulation base comprising a mounting plate onto which said medical device cartridge is removably attached, and a drive system mounted to said mounting plate, wherein said drive system comprises a rotary actuator and is configured to operatively engage said drive interface of said cartridge and to impart rotational movement onto said rotatable medical device assembly through said drive interface.

A rotatable medical device assembly for use in a medical device cartridge of a robotically controlled medical device guidance system, comprising:

• an elongate medical device having a proximal end and a distal end;
• a housing having a first end, a second end, and a longitudinal axis extending therethrough, wherein said proximal end of said elongate medical device is disposed within said housing and said housing further comprises an opening disposed in said first end thereof through which said elongate medical device extends outwardly from said housing in an axial direction relative to said longitudinal axis;
• and
• a drive interface coupled with said housing and configured to be operatively engaged with a drive system of a manipulation base to impart rotational movement onto said rotatable medical device assembly about said longitudinal axis of said housing.