Flexible clamping apparatus for medical devices

A clamp for use in connecting a medical device to a support, the clamp comprising:

• first and second generally opposed clamp elements;
• and
• a connector interconnecting the first and second clamp elements;
• the first and second clamp elements defining a first receptacle for receiving an end of the support therein and a second receptacle for receiving a mounting structure of the medical device therein, at least one of the first and second clamp elements defining a device catch in the second receptacle, the connector being selectively movable between a first position in which the clamp elements are adapted to frictionally engage the end of the support and the mounting structure of the device to resist relative rotation between the support, clamp and medical device, and a second position in which the clamp elements are relatively farther apart than in the first position and the device catch is positioned to prevent withdrawal of mounting structure of the medical device from the second receptacle thereby permitting the device to be rotated with respect to the support without releasing connection to the support.

A method of supporting a medical device on a flexible shaft to permit selective rotation of the medical device relative to the flexible shaft without loss of interconnection with the flexible shaft, the method comprising:

• rotating a connector to move first and second clamp elements to an open position;
• inserting a mounting structure of the medical device into a receptacle defined by the first and second clamp elements;
• rotating the connector to move the first and second clamp elements to a fully closed position thereby clamping the flexible shaft and mounting structure for resisting relative rotation of the mounting structure relative to the flexible shaft;
• loosening the clamp to a position in which the mounting structure and medical device are free to rotate, while the medical device is retained from moving out of the receptacle.