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Endoscope sheath and valve system

  • US 5,386,817 A
  • Filed: 04/05/1993
  • Issued: 02/07/1995
  • Est. Priority Date: 06/10/1991
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A protective covering adapted for use on a conventional endoscope which includes an elongated substantially cylindrical portion having a distal end and a proximal end, wherein the distal end has substantially the same diameter as the cylindrical portion of the endoscope, the endoscope further including an optical element and a light source, the covering comprising:

  • (a) an elongated hollow sheath having a wall of flexible material, the material being substantially gas and water impervious, the sheath including a main channel adapted to contain the elongated portion of the endoscope in a loose fitting manner, a proximal end and a distal end, wherein the distal end of the sheath comprises an end-fitting cap having a first end, second end, a substantially cylindrical sidewall, forming an internal endoscope receiving chamber, wherein the chamber has a diameter slightly larger than the diameter of the distal end of the conventional endoscope such that the end-fitting cap is adapted to receive the distal end of the endoscope in a snug-fit relationship, and at least one access channel, the first end including an optically clear element having an external surface and internal surface, and wherein the second end of the cap is in sealing engagement with the distal end of the sheath; and

    (b) at least one axially-directed access tube, the access tube being adapted to extend alongside and exterior to the elongated substantially cylindrical portion of the endoscope, the access tube having a distal and a proximal end, wherein the access tube is separate from the sheath and adapted to be tangentially located on the elongated substantially cylindrical portion of the endoscope, wherein the access tube is adapted to extend axially between the elongated substantially cylindrical portion of the endoscope and the wall of the sheath, and wherein the main channel of the sheath has a sufficiently greater diameter, when unstretched, than the sidewall of the end-fitting cap to allow the access tube to move freely over the substantially cylindrical portion of the endoscope.

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