Inflatable member for an endoscope sheath
First Claim
1. An endoscope assembly for insertion into an internal passage in a human patient, comprising:
- an elongated flexible insertion tube;
a fluid impermeable flexible sheath having a distal end and positioned over the insertion tube;
a fluid passage adapted to communicate a fluid and extending through the flexible sheath to define at least one opening in the flexible sheath; and
at least one circumferential radially expandable flexible member positioned on the flexible sheath and sealably attached to the flexible sheath to form an enclosed inflatable annular space in fluid communication with the at least one opening.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Apparatus and methods for attaching and forming enclosed inflatable members on an endoscope assembly with a disposable sheath are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus includes a flexible and resilient cuff member that is positioned on the outer surface of the disposable sheath and sealably and fixedly bonded to the sheath cover material at the cuff edges to form an annular space capable of being inflated. The inflatable member formed thereby is inflated through a lumen internal to the sheath that has an opening into the interior annular space. In another embodiment, the annular space may be divided into separate inflatable lobes. In still another embodiment, the cuff member is a flexible and resilient member that is substantially toroidal in shape that is positioned on the outer surface of the sheath. In a further embodiment, the inflatable member is formed from an excess length of sheath cover material disposed on the disposable sheath. A single reentrant fold of sheath material is formed with an edge that is sealably and fixedly bonded to the sheath cover material to form an annular space capable of inflation. In alternate embodiments, the excess length of cover material may be used to form members with dual reentrant folds that comprise inflatable members with single and dual inflatable lobes.
152 Citations
64 Claims
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1. An endoscope assembly for insertion into an internal passage in a human patient, comprising:
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an elongated flexible insertion tube;
a fluid impermeable flexible sheath having a distal end and positioned over the insertion tube;
a fluid passage adapted to communicate a fluid and extending through the flexible sheath to define at least one opening in the flexible sheath; and
at least one circumferential radially expandable flexible member positioned on the flexible sheath and sealably attached to the flexible sheath to form an enclosed inflatable annular space in fluid communication with the at least one opening. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 56, 58)
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22. In an endoscope having an elongated flexible insertion tube, a disposable sheath, comprising:
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a fluid impermeable flexible sheath having a distal end and adapted to be positioned over the insertion tube;
a fluid passage to communicate a fluid and extending through the flexible sheath to define at least one opening in the flexible sheath; and
a circumferential radially expandable flexible member positioned on the flexible sheath and sealably attached to the flexible sheath to form an enclosed inflatable annular space in fluid communication with the at least one opening. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 57)
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43. A method of forming a circumferential radially expandable flexible member on an insertion tube of an endoscope assembly, comprising:
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drawing a fluid impermeable flexible sheath over a surface of an elongated flexible insertion tube;
forming a fluid passage that extends through the flexible sheath to define at least one opening in the sheath; and
forming a circumferential radially expandable flexible member in fluid communication with the at least one opening in the flexible sheath to define an enclosed annular space adapted to be inflated. - View Dependent Claims (44, 45, 46)
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47. A method of using an endoscope with a flexible sheath to visually examine an internal passage in a human patient, comprising:
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positioning a flexible sheath having a circumferential radially expandable member over the insertion tube of the endoscope;
inserting the insertion tube of the endoscope with the flexible sheath positioned thereon into a passage in the human body;
locating a region within the passage to be viewed endoscopically;
circumferentially expanding a localized region of the sheath extending circumferentially around the periphery of the sheath to substantially lock the endoscope proximate to the region; and
viewing the region. - View Dependent Claims (48, 49, 50)
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51. A method of using an endoscope with a flexible sheath to extract cellular material from an internal passage in a human patient, comprising:
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positioning a flexible sheath having a circumferential radially expandable member over the insertion tube of the endoscope;
inserting the insertion tube of the endoscope with the flexible sheath positioned thereon into a passage in the human body;
locating a region within the passage from which cellular material is to be removed;
circumferentially expanding a localized region of the sheath extending circumferentially around the periphery of the sheath to substantially lock the endoscope proximate to the region; and
removing the cellular material from the region. - View Dependent Claims (52, 53, 54, 55)
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59. An endoscope having an elongated flexible insertion tube, a disposable sheath, comprising:
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a fluid impermeable flexible sheath having a distal end and structured to be positioned over the insertion tube;
a fluid passage structured to communicate a fluid, the passage extending through the insertion tube and having a plurality of openings projecting through the flexible sheath; and
a plurality of radially expandable flexible members positioned on the flexible sheath, each member being spaced apart from the other members and each member being sealably attached to the flexible sheath to form an enclosed annular inflatable space in fluid communication with at least one of the plurality of openings. - View Dependent Claims (60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification