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US 9,579,013 B2Granted
Steerable tube
AssigneeSteerable Instruments NV
InventorsFrank Dewaele, Cyriel Mabilde, Bart Blanckaert
Life of this patent
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AssigneeSteerable Instruments NV
InventorsFrank Dewaele, Cyriel Mabilde, Bart Blanckaert
Estimating the term…
A steerable tube (100), comprising a hollow elongate tubular member (1) having a proximal end (2), distal end (3), a wall surface disposed between said proximal (2) and distal end (4), a bend-resistive zone (6) flanked by a proximal bendable zone (4) that forms a controller and a distal bendable zone (5) that forms an effector that moves responsive to movements of the controller, whereby the wall of the tubular member (1) in the bend-resistive zone (6) comprises a structure that is a plurality of longitudinal slits (7), forming a plurality of longitudinal strips (8, 8′), the wall of the tubular member (1) in the proximal bendable zone (4) and the distal bendable zone (5) comprises a structure that is a plurality of longitudinal wires (9, 9′, 10, 10′), at least one strip (8) is in connection with a wire (9) in the proximal bendable zone (4) and a wire (10) in the distal bendable zone (5), such that translation by said wire (9) in the controller is transmitted via the strip (8) to said wire (10) in the effector, a proximal annular region (11) of the tubular member (1), proximal to the proximal bendable zone (4) to which the proximal wires (9) are anchored, a distal annular region (12) of the tubular member (1) distal to the distal bendable zone (5) to which the distal wires (10) are anchored.
A steering guide for coupling to a medical instrument having a longitudinal axis, which steering guide comprises an elongated longitudinal member not forming part of the medical instrument and having a proximal and distal end, the proximal end disposed with a brace for attachment to a part of a bodily arm of a user, and the distal end disposed with a cylindrical passage configured for coupling with the medical instrument for use on a subject that is not the user, said steering guide configured to place a proximal end of the instrument within reach of a hand of said arm, and for a passive pivotal movement of the instrument actuated by movement said part of the arm, wherein the elongated longitudinal member is attached to the brace using a fixture that allows slidable movement of the elongated longitudinal member relative to the brace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.