Steerable medical instrument
First Claim
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1. A steerable medical instrument comprising:
- a shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
an end effector at the distal end of the shaft, said end effector comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
one or more steering control wires anchored in the end effector such that tension applied to the wire proximal to the anchor point causes deflection of the end effector in the direction that tension is applied; and
a control handle connected to the proximal end of the shaft;
wherein a material property of the end effector varies along its length to account for variable bending moments experience by the end effector when tension is applied to the one or more steering control wires.
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Abstract
A steerable medical instrument includes a control handle, a shaft, steering control wires, and an end effector at the distal end of the shaft. The end effector is a separate component engineered to distribute the stress and strain of bending moments along the length of the end effector to achieve predicable, repeatable, fine motion control over the distal end of the instrument. The end effector may be customized for any medical application. For example, the end effector may comprise a grasping device, a cutting devise, a snare, a specimen retrieval device, or a wound closure device (such as a stapler).
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Citations
56 Claims
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1. A steerable medical instrument comprising:
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a shaft comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
an end effector at the distal end of the shaft, said end effector comprising a proximal end and a distal end;
one or more steering control wires anchored in the end effector such that tension applied to the wire proximal to the anchor point causes deflection of the end effector in the direction that tension is applied; and
a control handle connected to the proximal end of the shaft;
wherein a material property of the end effector varies along its length to account for variable bending moments experience by the end effector when tension is applied to the one or more steering control wires. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 55, 56)
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41. An end effector for a medical instrument, comprising
a flexible member comprising a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the proximal end is attachable to a medical instrument; - and
wherein a material property of the flexible member varies along its length to account for variable bending moments experienced by the flexible member when the end effector is in use in a patient. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
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50. A method for manufacturing a steerable medical instrument, the method comprising:
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forming an end effector comprising a distal end, a proximal end, and a longitudinal axis; and
creating a plurality of hinge elements disposed along the longitudinal axis of the end effector. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification