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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 8177711 | Bi-directional handle for a catheter A steerable catheter or sheath control handle for steering a distal end of a tubular catheter body or sheath body having first and second actuation wires extending from a proximal end of the body comprises a grip portion, a bearing assembly, and an actuator. The fir... | 05/15/2012 |
| 8142349 | Rotation mechanism for endoscope A connection mechanism includes a rotatable member formed with a connection hole in which a shaft member is rotatably fitted. A thrust stopper is arranged at the distal end of the shaft member to prevent the rotatable member from being removed from the shaft member.... | 03/27/2012 |
| 8100825 | Endoscope and supportive member for bending operation of the same An endoscope includes an insertion portion having a bendable portion; an operation portion from which the insertion portion extends; a first bending operation knob arranged on a surface of the operation portion and including depressions and first protrusions, to ben... | 01/24/2012 |
| 8096943 | Flexible endoscope tip bending mechanism using optical fiber as compression member A flexible endoscope includes an elongate flexible extrusion. A central lumen extends longitudinally through the center of the extrusion, and a plurality of other longitudinally extending lumens are spaced around the central lumen. An optical fiber is inserted withi... | 01/17/2012 |
| 7988621 | Torque-transmitting, variably-flexible, corrugated insertion device and method for transmitting torque and variably flexing a corrugated insertion device A torque-transmitting, variably-flexible, corrugated insertion device includes a hollow body having a proximal end with an entrance for receiving an instrument and a distal end with a tip for protrusion of the instrument. A vacuum-activated device transitions the ho... | 08/02/2011 |
| 7883460 | Endoscope An endoscope has an insertion portion provided with a freely curvable curving portion; a grip portion provided at a base end side of the insertion portion and grasped by an operator. There provided at the grip portion and in its periphery is an instructing operation... | 02/08/2011 |
| 7815566 | Methods for stabilizing and positioning an endoscope and surgical procedures Methods for stabilizing and positioning an endoscope using various braided devices and suture techniques. Related endoscopic surgical procedures are also disclosed. A surgical method comprises introducing an endoscope into a patient's natural orifice. The endoscope ... | 10/19/2010 |
| 7780593 | Endoscope A bend section is disposed on an insertion section. A rotary body, on which a proximal end portion of a wire for a bend operation, which has a distal end portion connected to the bend section, is rotatably supported in a large-diameter section. Driving force transmi... | 08/24/2010 |
| RE41475 | Flexible ureteropyeloscope A flexible ureteropyeloscope having a control section and a shaft extending from the control section. The shaft has a front end with a first active deflection section connected in series with a second active deflection section. The control section is adapted to inde... | 08/03/2010 |
| 7736303 | Curvilinearly controlling wire member of endoscope and method for manufacturing the same A wire member 50 is received in a flexible part 22 of an endoscope 20 and adapted to remotely curvilinearly control a bendable part 27 at a distal end of the flexible insertion part 22. The wire member 50 includes a braid | 06/15/2010 |
| 7722532 | Electric bending endoscope An electric bending endoscope comprises a bending portion arranged to an inserting portion, a bending driving unit and a buffering member. The bending driving unit bends the bending portion, and includes a motor, a first unit and a second unit. The motor generates d... | 05/25/2010 |
| 7666135 | Robotic endoscope An endoscope is provided which comprises an elongated body adapted for insertion into a body lumen, and a plurality of electrically controlled actuators associated with the body which are controllable to impart an orientation to the body that is complimentary to the... | 02/23/2010 |
| 7662091 | Flexible borescope assembly for inspecting internal turbine components at elevated temperatures A borescope is received within a housing. The borescope includes a flexible end portion carrying the video head and a housing includes a flexible end portion comprised of ball-socket segments and a tip for following the movement of the flexible end portion of the bo... | 02/16/2010 |
| 7591784 | Bi-directional handle for a catheter A catheter actuation handle for deflecting a distal end of a tubular catheter body having first and second actuation wires extending from a proximal end of the body. The handle comprises a first grip portion, a bearing assembly, and an actuator. The first grip porti... | 09/22/2009 |
| 7588536 | Control mechanism for an endoscope Control mechanism (10) for an endoscope including first and second independently rotatable control knobs (18,20), an inner pinion shaft (22) fixed to the first control knob (18), an outer pinion shaft (28) fixed to the second contr... | 09/15/2009 |
| 7494462 | Endoscopic manual control knob, and a method for manufacturing same An endoscopic manual control knob which has a knob body proper in the form of a synthetic resin molding. The knob body is largely composed of a ring-like top plate and a peripheral side wall portion fringed along outer periphery of the top plate. The top plate is pr... | 02/24/2009 |
| 7435216 | Robotized laparoscopic system A robotized laparoscopic system capable of executing commands of an operating surgeon is provided. The laparoscopic system includes a cylindrical tube inserted through an incision. A small-sized camera is attached to one end of the tube to capture the images of the ... | 10/14/2008 |
| 7410483 | Hand-actuated device for remote manipulation of a grasping tool The invention provides an articulating mechanism useful, for example, for remote manipulation of various surgical instruments and diagnostic tools within, or to, regions of the body. Movement of segments at the proximal end of the mechanism results in a correspondin... | 08/12/2008 |
| 7387606 | Colonoscope apparatus and method This invention relates to an improved colonoscope and method of removing or adding non-distal fluid from the colon during colonoscopy using a colonoscope, the colonoscope having at least a distal port and a non-distal port or plurality of non-distal ports to remove ... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7387179 | Toroidal propulsion and steering system An apparatus comprises a body having a torus skin with inner and outer layers, and a drive system configured to propel the apparatus by moving the inner layer relative to the outer layer. The active skin propulsion system allows movement and steering of a device. A ... | 06/17/2008 |
| 7371210 | Flexible instrument A remote control flexible instrument system, employing a shaft which supports a tool, is described in which the has proximal and distal ends with at least a portion thereof extending through a lumen of the human body so as to locate the shaft at an internal target s... | 05/13/2008 |
| 7338505 | Apparatus and method for endoscopic colectomy Apparatus and methods for endoscopic colectomy are described herein. A colectomy device having a first and a second tissue approximation device is mounted on a colonoscope separated from one another. During deployment of the colectomy device, a diseased portion of t... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7339341 | Surgical camera robot The present invention is a miniature camera robot which can be placed entirely within an open space such as an abdominal cavity. The instant camera robot has pan and tilt capabilities, an adjustable focus camera, and a support component for supporting the robot body... | 03/04/2008 |
| 7329113 | Adjustable extrusion die An extrusion die assembly configured to process a flow of extrusion material traveling in a downstream direction includes a first die component, a second die component and a third die component. The first die component includes a first channel that is substantially ... | 02/12/2008 |
| 7326176 | Endoscope angle portion An endoscope angle portion comprises an angle portion structure. The angle portion structure includes angle ring units each of which comprises pivoting joint portions extending from its both ends and has a shape that is notched obliquely in directions away from the ... | 02/05/2008 |
| 7318803 | Endoscope and manufacturing method therefor An endoscope is provided with a pliable tube composed of an integument layer formed from a resin and a metal tube integrally fitted into this integument layer in an insertion portion. The inner diameter dimension of the pliable tube at ambient temperature after appl... | 01/15/2008 |
| 7303560 | Method of positioning a medical instrument A system and method for positioning a medical instrument at a desired biological target tissue site is provided. The system includes an elongated sheath having a deflectable distal end configured to deflect or otherwise position at least a portion of a medical instr... | 12/04/2007 |
| 7300438 | Electrophysiology catheter for mapping and/or ablation Catheters for mapping and/or ablation are disclosed. In one embodiment, the catheter comprises a handle, a flexible shaft, a tip assembly, and a cable. The handle includes an actuator and is attached, at its distal end, to the proximal end of the flexible shaft. The... | 11/27/2007 |
| 7285108 | Active system for deflecting a distal portion of a catheter into a hoop configuration An active system for deflecting a distal portion of a catheter into a hoop configuration includes an elongated catheter body having a proximal portion and a distal portion that is formed with a lumen. A thin-walled tube, which is typically made of a metallic materia... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7285088 | Endoscope apparatus An endoscope apparatus comprises: an endoscope in which a bending section is provided in its elongated insertion section; control wires stretching out of the bending section; a drive unit, which is attached to and removed from the endoscope; a pulling apparatus, whi... | 10/23/2007 |
| 7276077 | Body fluid flow control device A device to provide body fluid flow control in the form of a valve to be located within a duct or passageway. The device is controlled through pressure above a preselected threshold. Bulk resilience about a passageway in a valve body provides the mechanism for contr... | 10/02/2007 |
| 7267650 | Ultrasound directed guiding catheter system and method A guiding catheter system employs a flexible shaft having a preformed bend at a distal end. An ultrasound transducer is mounted proximal to the pre-formed bend. The ultrasound transducer has a field of view directed to a distal tip of the guiding catheter. The guidi... | 09/11/2007 |
| 7261686 | Universal, programmable guide catheter A guide catheter apparatus that comprises the following: (a) a guide catheter portion that includes a plurality of electroactive polymer actuators disposed along its axial length and (b) a control unit coupled to the actuators and sending control signals to the actu... | 08/28/2007 |
| 7259495 | Conductive polymer actuator Two conductive polymer films, one of which swells and the other of which shrinks by an oxidation-reduction reaction, are connected to a link mechanism for reciprocally converting shrinkage-directional displacements of one film to swell-directional displacements of t... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7259503 | Electroactive polymers The present invention relates to transducers, their use and fabrication. The transducers convert between mechanical and electrical energy. Some transducers of the present invention include a pre-strained polymer. The pre-strain improves the conversion between electr... | 08/21/2007 |
| 7250027 | Articulating vertebrae with asymmetrical and variable radius of curvature An endoscope has a first segment with a proximal end and a distal end and is symmetric about an axis. A second segment, comprising a flexible and interconnected linkage system, is pivotably coupled to the first segment and, when subject to an applied force, is confi... | 07/31/2007 |
| 7226470 | Phototherapeutical apparatus and method for the treatment and prevention of diseases of body cavities A phototherapeutical apparatus and method are described. The apparatus includes an ultraviolet light source, an optical guidance system, and a patient interface. The patient interface is insertable at least partially into a body cavity and is operable to apply the g... | 06/05/2007 |
| 7223231 | Anti-twist casing for endoscopic manipulating head assembly A casing of an endoscopic manipulating head assembly is largely constituted by and dividable into a main cover section adapted to support an operating means of an angulation control mechanism and a grip cover section provided between the main cover section and an in... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7216831 | Shape changing structure In one preferred embodiment, a structure is provided that includes a body having a first wall and a second wall. At least one appending component extends from an end of the body and includes a first skin and second skin. The structure additionally includes at least ... | 05/15/2007 |
| 7213736 | Surgical stapling instrument incorporating an electroactive polymer actuated firing bar track through an articulation joint A surgical stapling instrument particularly suited to endoscopic use articulates an end effector (e.g., stapling and severing) that is actuated by a firing bar. An articulation mechanism in an elongate shaft incorporates electrically actuated polymer (EAP) actuators... | 05/08/2007 |
