Medical instrument
AssigneeCerebral Vascular Applications, Inc.
InventorsRichard A. Hillstead, Bryan D. Knodel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A hydraulically actuated medical instrument includes an elongated shaft having proximal and distal ends, a hydraulically actuated end effector at the distal end of the shaft and a fluid flow path extending through the shaft to the end effector. The end effector may be directly manually operated by way of a handle located at the proximal end of the shaft or remotely, for example, via robotic controller. Articulation joints may be provided along the shaft, between the shaft and end effector or handle, or elsewhere. The hydraulic actuation of the present invention permits multiple axis instrument articulation, miniaturization and simplified instrument fabrication.
Claims30
A hydraulically actuated medical instrument, comprising:
- a handle portion;
- an end effector carried by the handle portion;
- the end effector including first and second hydraulic actuators, responsive to changes in hydraulic actuation pressure;
- a first hydraulic fluid flow path and a second hydraulic fluid flow path communicating between the handle portion and the first and second hydraulic actuators, respectively;
- and,
- the handle portion including a hydraulic cylinder block including first and second cylinders communicating, respectively, with the first and second flow paths, and first and second pistons slidably movable with respect to the first and second cylinders, respectively;
- first and second members movably mounted and engageable, respectively, with the first and second pistons for moving the pistons relative to the cylinders to chance the pressure of hydraulic fluid in the flow paths the first piston comprises a plurality of gear teeth, and the first engageable member includes a plurality of gear teeth engageable with the gear teeth of the first piston.
A hydraulic actuation handle for a hydraulically actuated medical instrument, comprising
- first and second fluid flow paths;
- first and second hydraulic pressure sources
- communicating with the first and second fluid flow paths, respectively, for changing the hydraulic pressure within each of the first and second flow paths, the first and second pressure sources comprising a hydraulic cylinder block including first and second cylinders communicating, respectively, with the first and second fluid flow paths and first and second pistons slidably movable with respect to the first and second cylinders, respectively;
- means for selectively actuating said first or second hydraulic pressure sources by moving one or more of the pistons;
- and
- wherein at least one of the first and second pistons further comprises a plurality of gear teeth and the means for selectively actuating includes a plurality of gear teeth engageable with the gear teeth of the piston.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.