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US 9,801,529 B2Granted
Rotation of outrigger during medical procedure
AssigneeIntuitive Surgical Operations, Inc.
InventorTheodore W. Rogers
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A medical device such as an endoscope, a laparoscope, or other device including an entry guide uses outriggers or arms that are mounted on the distal end of the entry guide and rotationally deployed to provide separation of instruments when the entry guide reaches a work site. Deployment can be implemented with as few as one cable or actuator to operate the arms. This mechanism may achieve working separation in a short axial length without complicating instrument channels that may be used for other instruments introduced through the entry guide.
Claims15
A process comprising:
- inserting a length of a device into a patient until a distal end of the device reaches a work site inside the patient, wherein an outrigger that is rotatably mounted on the distal end is in a retracted position while the device is being inserted, the outrigger including a triangular section of the device, that is rotatable about a rotation axis along a first edge of the triangular section:
- rotating the outrigger about the rotation axis so that the outrigger deploys from the retracted position to a deployed position while the distal end is inside the patient, wherein the rotation axis is fixed at a first angle with a centerline along the length of the device, the first angle being less than 90°;
- inserting an instrument from a proximal end of the device, through a first lumen that runs through the outrigger, so that a portion of the instrument extends from an opening in the outrigger, the opening being at a first distance from the rotation axis;
- and performing a medical procedure at the work site using the portion of the instrument extending from the outrigger, wherein the medical procedure is performed while the outrigger is in the deployed position, and the opening is further from the centerline when the outrigger is in the deployed position than when the outrigger is in the retracted position.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.