Endocranial endoscope

An endocranial endoscope comprising:

• an outer tube having proximal and distal portions;
• a middle rigid tube telescoping within the outer tube between extended and retracted positions, and a sleeve extending distally from the middle tube;
• a stopper at a distal portion of the sleeve and a biasing element biasing the stopper in the distal direction;
• an inner tube within the sleeve, said inner tube being shaped, dimensioned, and configured for insertion into a patient's cranium;
• a suction/irrigation tube within the inner tube, configured to move between extended and retracted positions relative to the inner tube;
• an imaging module and an illumination module at a distal end of the inner tube, wherein the illumination module is configured to illuminate a field of view inside the patient's cranium and the imaging module is configured to take and supply images of the field of view for display to a user while the inner tube is inserted in a patient's cranium;
• a handle configured to be grasped by a user's hand and having a distal portion coupled to a proximal portion of the outer tube, and a proximal portion, said handle comprising:
• (i) a suction port coupler and an irrigation port coupler at a proximal portion of the handle,
• (ii) a user-operated suction and irrigation control configured to control flow between the suction/irrigation tube and the suction and irrigation ports, respectively, and
• (iii) a user-operated extension-retraction control operatively associated with the suction/irrigation tube to control a degree by which a distal end of the suction/irrigation tube protrudes distally from the inner tube.
• withdrawn