Instrument for endoscopic-type procedures
First Claim
1. A medical/dental instrument for performing at least one procedure inside a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
- a first tubular section having a bore formed by a wall made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics and having a leading end for mounting a tool;
a first delivery tube having a wall forming a bore for receiving said first tubular section therethrough; and
an actuating mechanism for moving said first tubular section in and out of and through the bore of said first delivery tube,said first tubular section being substantially straight when its wall is within the bore of said first delivery tube and said first tubular section having a bent or curved shape for performing at least one procedure inside of a patient'"'"'s body when its wall is disposed outside of said first delivery tube,said leading end of said tubular section including a variable locking element made of a shape memory material having a transformation temperature range, said element permitting the mounting and removal of a tool from said leading end at temperatures below said range, and to lock said tool in place when mounted on said leading end at temperatures above said range, said variable locking element being a ring having an inside diameter, and said leading end of said tubular section having an outside diameter for receiving said ring, said inside diameter being larger than said outside diameter at temperatures below said range, and when unconstrained, said inside diameter being smaller than said outside diameter at temperatures above said range.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is an instrument (10) which includes a tubular section (12) having a wall (13) made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics and a delivery tube (14) having a bore (15) through which the tubular section (12) passes. The instrument (10) may be adapted for use in medical/dental and non-medical procedures. The superelastic character of the wall material is used in combination with the delivery tube (14) to alternately restrict the shape of the wall (13) and allow it to change to its unconstrained shape. Thus, the wall (13) can be sufficiently deformed to permit the tubular section (12) to pass in and out of and through the delivery tube (14) while at the same time enabling the tubular section (12) to have a shape when extended outside of the delivery tube (14) that is sufficiently bent or curved to be suitable for performing a desired function, for example a medical or dental procedure inside a patient'"'"'s body. In this way, the delivery tube (14) enables the tubular section (12) to reach the site of the procedure through more narrow insertion paths, and in the case of medical/dental applications, with less trauma to the surrounding tissue along the insertion path. Because it can be inserted through more narrow pathways, the tubular section (12) can be delivered to more remote and harder to reach locations.
286 Citations
30 Claims
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1. A medical/dental instrument for performing at least one procedure inside a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
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a first tubular section having a bore formed by a wall made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics and having a leading end for mounting a tool; a first delivery tube having a wall forming a bore for receiving said first tubular section therethrough; and an actuating mechanism for moving said first tubular section in and out of and through the bore of said first delivery tube, said first tubular section being substantially straight when its wall is within the bore of said first delivery tube and said first tubular section having a bent or curved shape for performing at least one procedure inside of a patient'"'"'s body when its wall is disposed outside of said first delivery tube, said leading end of said tubular section including a variable locking element made of a shape memory material having a transformation temperature range, said element permitting the mounting and removal of a tool from said leading end at temperatures below said range, and to lock said tool in place when mounted on said leading end at temperatures above said range, said variable locking element being a ring having an inside diameter, and said leading end of said tubular section having an outside diameter for receiving said ring, said inside diameter being larger than said outside diameter at temperatures below said range, and when unconstrained, said inside diameter being smaller than said outside diameter at temperatures above said range. - 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)
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24. A medical/dental instrument for performing at least one procedure inside a patient'"'"'s body comprising:
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a first tubular section having a bore formed by a wall made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics; a first delivery tube having a wall forming a bore for receiving said first tubular section therethrough; an actuating mechanism for moving said first tubular section in and out of and through the bore of said first delivery tube, said first tubular section being substantially straight when its wall is within the bore of said first delivery tube and said first tubular section having a bent or curved shape for performing at least one procedure inside of a patient'"'"'s body when its wall is disposed outside of said first delivery tube; and a second tubular section having a bore formed by a wall made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics, said second tubular section being concentrically disposed within said first tubular section, being substantially straight when its wall is within the bore of said first tubular section and having a bend or curved shape when its wall is disposed outside of said first tubular section, and said actuating mechanism being able to move said second tubular section in and out of and through the bore of said first tubular section independent of the movement of said first tubular section in and out of and through said delivery tube, said second tubular section including a leading end and a variable locking element made of a shape memory material having a transformation temperature range, said locking element permitting the mounting and removal of a tool from said leading end at temperatures below said range, and locking said tool in place when mounted on said leading end at temperatures above said range, said variable locking element being a ring having an inside diameter, and said leading end of said second tubular section having an outside diameter for receiving said ring, said inside diameter being larger than said outside diameter at temperatures below said range, and when unconstrained, said inside diameter being smaller than said outside diameter at temperatures above said range.
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25. An instrument for transmitting images through an optical fiber comprising:
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a first tubular section having a leading end and a wall made of a material exhibiting superelastic characteristics which forms a bore with an optical fiber disposed therethrough, said optical fiber for transmitting an image from said leading end through said first tubular section, said leading end of said tubular section mounting at least one fiber optic lens in optical communication with said optical fiber, said leading end including a variable locking element made of a shape memory material having a transformation temperature range, said element permitting the mounting and removal of said at least one lens from said leading end at temperatures below said range, and to lock said at least one lens in place when mounted on said leading end at temperatures above said range, said variable locking element being a ring having an inside diameter, and the leading end of said tubular section having an outside diameter for receiving said ring, said inside diameter being larger than said outside diameter at temperatures below said range, and when unconstrained, said inside diameter being smaller than said outside diameter at temperatures above said range; a first delivery tube having a wall forming a bore for receiving said first tubular section therethrough; and an actuating mechanism for moving said first tubular section in and out of and through the bore of said first delivery tube, said first tubular section being substantially straight when its wall is within the bore of said first delivery tube and said first tubular section having a bend or curved shape when its wall is disposed outside of said first delivery tube. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification