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US 5,307,803 AGranted
Deflecting endoscope
AssigneeIntramed Laboratories, Inc.
InventorsDavid G. Matsuura, Curt Boyll
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An endoscope including a flexible shaft having a distal end which can be deflected by a manually operable mechanism on a handle assembly. The shaft includes an elongate member having longitudinal fins that extend radially outward. A hollow lumen through the core member forms a fluid channel, and the radially extending fins provide channels for accommodating optical fibers and pull wires. The member has a substantially continuous cross-section enabling it to be inexpensively extruded.
Claims12
A flexible shaft assembly for use in a medical endoscope, including:
- an elongate flexible member having proximal and distal ends and a substantially continuous cross-section along its length, said flexible member comprising a peripheral wall defining a hollow lumen extending from said proximal end to said distal end;
- a plurality of longitudinal fins, each projecting radially from said wall to a free end, said fins extending along the length of said member and being dimensioned to establish a nonuniform moment of inertia profile around said member defining at least one preferred bending plane;
- and
- a pull wire extending from said member proximal end to said distal end for deflecting said member in said preferred bending plane.
1 more element
An endoscope comprising:
- a handle body;
- a flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end, said shaft including a flexible elongate member comprising a peripheral wall defining a hollow lumen;
- a plurality of longitudinal fins, each projecting radially from said peripheral wall to a free end, said fins extending along the length of said member and being dimensioned and spaced to establish a nonuniform moment of inertia profile around said member defining at least one preferred bending plane;
- an optical fiber having a proximal end terminating in said handle body and a distal end terminating proximate to said shaft distal end, said fiber extending through a channel defined between a pair of said plurality of fins;
- a pull wire having a proximal end terminating in said handle body and a distal end terminating proximate to said shaft distal end, said pull wire extending through a channel defined between a pair of said plurality of fins;
- and
- a control member mounted on said handle body connected to said pull wire proximal end and selectively actuatable to pull said pull wire distal end toward said handle body to deflect said shaft distal end in said preferred bending plane.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.