Instrument for examination and treatment of bodily passages

An instrument for the examination and treatment of constrictions in body cavities and vessels, said instrument comprising a flexible catheter shaft of a solid transparent material having proximal and distal ends, said shaft having at least five passages extending between said ends and having an elastically deformable sheath means thereon, the sheath means creating a decreasing flexibility for said catheter shaft and sheath from the distal end to the proximal end;

• a control housing fixedly attached to the proximal end of said catheter shaft, said control housing having a light connector for connection to a light source, a connector stub for connection to a supply and drain for flushing fluids, an eyepiece projecting from a surface of the housing, an inflation connection for receiving an inflating medium and a control handle;
• said shaft being connected to the light connector on the control housing to form light guide means for conducting light to the distal end of the shaft;
• a fiber image guide extending through one of said passages in said shaft and being connected to said eyepiece projecting from said control housing;
• a second passage of said plurality of passages of the shaft forming a fluid passage extending longitudinally through said shaft and communicating with said connector stub of the control housing for supplying and receiving flushing fluids at the distal end of the shaft;
• a balloon on said shaft adjacent to the distal end, said balloon being connected to a third of the plurality of passages of said shaft, said third passage being connected to the inflation connection on the control housing, a fourth passage of the plurality of passages being an instrument passage extending longitudinally through the shaft and housing and at least one control wire extending longitudinally through a fifth passage of the shaft and being secured at its proximal end to the handle on the control housing and to the distal end of the shaft for steering the distal end of the shaft in response to movement of the handle on the control housing.

An instrument for examination and treatment of constrictions in a body passage and vessel, said instrument comprising a flexible continuous-wall shaft of solid clear plastic material having a memory, said material being convertible by an input of heat from a specific spatial form to an elastic state of a non-specific spatial form, said shaft being in the form of a catheter with a diameter of not more than about 4 mm and having a plurality of cross-sectionally distributed and longitudinally extending passages in said material, at least one of said passages being for the infeed and discharge of flushing fluids and bodily secretions, at least a second of said passages being for the passing through of auxiliary instruments and measuring instruments, at least a third of said passages being for reception of a fiber image guide, at least a fourth and fifth of the passages having control wires for steering the distal end of the shaft by operation of handles on a control housing attached to the proximal end of the shaft, a resistor wire extending in a sixth passage to each said shaft to cause the plastic material of the shaft to change to a nonspecific spatial form, said shaft forming means for conducting light along said shaft, and an elastically deformable sheath having a plurality of overlapping layers surrounding the shaft to decrease the flexibility of the shaft as one moves from the distal end towards the proximal end of the catheter.