Endoscope with protruding member and method of utilizing the same
First Claim
1. An endoscope comprising:
- an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object;
optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage;
an elongated, resilient member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the resilient member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage;
said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope;
the endoscope body having an endoscope lumen and the resilient member being slidably received in said endoscope lumen;
the endoscope including a controller mounted on the endoscope body for moving the resilient member longitudinally in said endoscope lumen; and
the controller including a control slide coupled to the resilient member and mounted for sliding movement on the endoscope body.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An endoscope including an elongated endoscope body sized and adapted for insertion into a passage, such as a passage of the body of a patient. Optical components are carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end of the endoscope body within a field of view of the endoscope. An elongated, resilient member is mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the resilient member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage. The resilient member extends beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and is capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope.
187 Citations
39 Claims
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1. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the resilient member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; the endoscope body having an endoscope lumen and the resilient member being slidably received in said endoscope lumen; the endoscope including a controller mounted on the endoscope body for moving the resilient member longitudinally in said endoscope lumen; and the controller including a control slide coupled to the resilient member and mounted for sliding movement on the endoscope body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 37)
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5. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on the endoscope body, said resilient member being fixed longitudinally with respect to the endoscope body; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; the endoscope body having an endoscope lumen and said resilient member being received in said endoscope lumen; and bonding material for bonding the resilient member to the endoscope body within the endoscope lumen. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7)
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8. A method of viewing an interior passage in the body of a patient with an endoscope which has an elongated endoscope body with a distal end, said method comprising:
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advancing the endoscope into the passage in the body of the patient with the endoscope having a field of view and an elongated resilient member which extends beyond the distal end of the endoscope body when the endoscope is at a region of the passage; relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and material within or forming the passage within the field of view of the endoscope utilizing the resilient member; and viewing the interior passage utilizing the endoscope while the distal end of the endoscope body and said material are relatively displaced. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the elongated member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage; said elongated member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; the elongated member having a transition temperature and the elongated member being more easily deflectable below the transition temperature than above the transition temperature. - View Dependent Claims (21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body,said elongated member having a transition temperature, said elongated member being more easily deflected below said transition temperature then above said transition temperature; and said elongated member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the resilient member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; and a region of the resilient member proximally of the distal tip portion being of greater flexibility than a zone of the resilient member immediately proximal to such region, said zone and said region being distal of the endoscope body. - View Dependent Claims (31)
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32. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on the endoscope body, said resilient member being fixed longitudinally with respect to the endoscope body; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; the endoscope being flexible and sized to be received within an interior body region of a patient, the resilient member terminating distally in an enlarged distal tip portion; and the distal tip portion having a maximum cross sectional dimension which is between about 0.15 millimeter and 1.2 millimeters.
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33. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on the endoscope body, said resilient member being fixed longitudinally with respect to the endoscope body; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope, the endoscope being flexible and sized to be received within an interior body region of a patient, the resilient member terminating distally in an enlarged distal tip portion; and the distal tip portion having a distal end which is between about 1 millimeter and 15 millimeters from the distal end of the endoscope body.
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34. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on the endoscope body, said resilient member being fixed longitudinally with respect to the endoscope body; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; the endoscope being flexible and sized to be received within an interior body region of a patient, the resilient member terminating distally in an enlarged distal tip portion; and the resilient member being constructed of a nickel-titanium alloy.
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35. An endoscope comprising:
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an elongated endoscope body having a distal end, said endoscope body being sized and adapted for insertion into a passage of an object; optical components carried by the endoscope body to enable viewing of the passage distally of the distal end within a field of view of the endoscope when the endoscope is in the passage; an elongated, resilient member mounted on and carried by the endoscope body such that the endoscope body and the resilient member are a unitary assembly which can be inserted as a unit into the passage; said resilient member extending beyond the distal end of the endoscope body and being capable of contacting material within or forming the passage and relatively displacing the distal end of the endoscope body and such material within the field of view of the endoscope to enhance viewing of the passage with the endoscope; said resilient member terminating distally in an enlarged distal tip portion; and the distal tip portion being permanently enlarged to have a maximum cross sectional area which is at least about as large as the cross sectional area of the distal end of the endoscope body. - View Dependent Claims (36, 38, 39)
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Specification