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US 2014/0228633 A1Published application
Rotation of outrigger during medical procedure
AssigneeIntuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
InventorThedore W. Rogers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A medical device such as an endoscope, a laparoscope, or other device including an entry guide uses outriggers or arms that are mounted on the distal end of the entry guide and rotationally deployed to provide separation of instruments when the entry guide reaches a work site. Deployment can be implemented with as few as one cable or actuator to operate the arms. This mechanism may achieve working separation in a short axial length without complicating instrument channels that may be used for other instruments introduced through the entry guide.
Claims9
A process comprising:
- inserting a device into a patient until a distal end of the device reaches a work site inside the patient, wherein an outrigger that is rotatably mounted on the distal end is in a retracted position while the device is being inserted;
- rotating the outrigger from the retracted position to a deployed position while the distal end is inside the patient, wherein a rotation axis for the rotating of the outrigger is at an acute angle relative to a center line of the device;
- and
- performing a medical procedure at the work site using an instrument having a fixture at an end of the outrigger opposite to an end of the outrigger through which the rotation axis passes, wherein the medical procedure is performed while the outrigger is in the deployed position, and the fixture is further from the center line when the outrigger is in the deployed position than when the outrigger is in the retracted position.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.