Rotate-to-advance catheterization system
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A visualization system for deployment in a bodily passageway, the visualization system comprising:
- a flexible tube having a distal end and a proximal end, a longitudinal axis extending between the distal end and the proximal end, and a lumen extending from the distal end to the proximal end;
visualization apparatus adapted to be received within the lumen of said tube;
an external helical thread disposed over at least the distal end of said tube, said external helical thread having a sufficient structural integrity, and a sufficient surface profile, such that when said tube is disposed in a bodily passageway, rotation of said tube about the longitudinal axis results in longitudinal motion of said tube along the bodily passageway; and
a powered drive adapted for attachment to and detachment from said tube proximate the proximal end of said tube, and adapted to engage said tube along a selected portion of an external surface of said tube for rotating said tube.
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Abstract
A system of rotate-to-advance medical devices including catheters, dilators, occluders, stents, suprapubic catheters and camera introducers configured with external screw threads and depending substantially on rotation for means of advancement and emplacement in mammalian genitourinary and gastrointestinal passages and organs.
251 Citations
9 Claims
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1. A visualization system for deployment in a bodily passageway, the visualization system comprising:
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a flexible tube having a distal end and a proximal end, a longitudinal axis extending between the distal end and the proximal end, and a lumen extending from the distal end to the proximal end; visualization apparatus adapted to be received within the lumen of said tube; an external helical thread disposed over at least the distal end of said tube, said external helical thread having a sufficient structural integrity, and a sufficient surface profile, such that when said tube is disposed in a bodily passageway, rotation of said tube about the longitudinal axis results in longitudinal motion of said tube along the bodily passageway; and a powered drive adapted for attachment to and detachment from said tube proximate the proximal end of said tube, and adapted to engage said tube along a selected portion of an external surface of said tube for rotating said tube. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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Specification