ENDOSCOPE STRUCTURES AND TECHNIQUES FOR NAVIGATING TO A TARGET IN A BRANCHED STRUCTURE
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Systems and methods employing a small gauge steerable catheter (30) including a locatable guide (32) with a sheath (40), particularly as an enhancement to a bronchoscope (14). A typical procedure is as follows. The location of a target in a reference coordinate system is detected or imported. The catheter (30) is navigated to the target which tracking the distal tip (34) of the guide (32) in the reference coordinate system. Insertion of the catheter is typically via a working channel of a convention bronchoscope. Once the tip of the catheter is positioned at the target, the guide (32) is withdrawn, leaving the sheath (40) secured in place. The sheath (40) is then used as a guide channel to direct a medical tool to target.
8 Citations
40 Claims
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1-20. -20. (canceled)
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21. A catheter assembly comprising:
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a handle; a locatable guide extending from the handle and including a distal end; a plurality of steering elements extending between the handle and the distal end of the locatable guide and configured to articulate the distal end of the locatable guide; and an actuator slidably and rotatably disposed on the handle, the actuator configured to rotate relative to the handle to select one or more of the steering elements for actuation and configured to slide relative to the handle to actuate the selected one or more of the steering elements to articulate the distal end of the locatable guide. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 40)
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32. A method of steering a locatable guide of a catheter assembly comprising:
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rotating an actuator relative to a handle of the catheter assembly to select one or more steering elements from a plurality of steering elements, the plurality of steering elements extending between the handle and a distal end of a locatable guide and configured to articulate the distal end of the locatable guide; and sliding the actuator relative to the handle to actuate the selected one or more steering elements to articulate the distal end of the locatable guide. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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Specification