1. A medical treatment endoscope comprising:
a sheath having a flexibility;
arm members configured to be capable of advancing from and retracting into the sheath, and having a bending part that projects out from a front end of the sheath and performs bending actions;
a wire member configured to bend the bending part;
an openclose mechanism which directs the arm members from a direction along a central axis of the sheath to a rotational direction deviated from the central axis of the sheath around a base axis of the arm members, and from the rotational direction deviated from the central axis of the sheath around the base axis of the arm members to a direction along the central axis of the sheath;
a viewing device and an illuminating member that are disposed to a front end side of the sheath;
the openclose mechanism includes:
an openclose operating member, configured to open the arm members by moving in a proximal end direction of the sheath, the openclose operating member at least partially protrudes from an opening of a distal end of the sheath and inserted in a freely advancing and retracting manner into the sheath;
linking parts, connected to the openclose operating member at a first end thereof and connected to a proximal position of the arm members at a second end thereof, and configured to be capable of turning according to the openclose operating member which advances and retracts for converting an advanceretract action of the arm members into an openclose action around the base axis of the arm members of the openclose mechanism; and
supporting members connected to the linking parts at a first end of the supporting members to be rotatable and connected to the sheath to freely advance and retract so as to support the arm members;
wherein the arm members comprise two arm members that are arranged in a radial direction of the sheath, and at least one part of the openclose operating member is disposed at a position in an area between central axes of the two arm members in a cross-section along the central axis of the sheath.
2. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 1, wherein front ends of the two arm members are capable of relative displacement with respect to the viewing device and the illuminating member by means of at least one of a bending action of the bending part and a directional transition of the two arm members by the openclose mechanism.
3. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 2, further comprising;
a frame; and
a bending operating part to which a procedure operating part for a procedure device for performing a procedure in an organ is attachable, for bending the bending part.
4. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 1, wherein in the cross-section along the central axis of the sheath, the openclose operating member is disposed closer to the central axis of the sheath than a position at which the two arm members are disposed.
5. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a connecting part for the linking part and the two arm members are provided so as to be positioned between a connecting part for the openclose operating member and the linking part, and the front end of the sheath, while in a state that the linking part is caused the two arm members to approach the central axis of the sheath, as a result of movement of the front end of the openclose operating member in the first direction to approach the central axis of the sheath.
6. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 5, wherein the openclose operating member is disposed to an area opposite the viewing device, between the two arm members.
7. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 1, wherein the viewing device is disposed to the distal end of the sheath, and the openclose mechanism opens and closes the two arm members at a more distal position than a position at which the viewing device is disposed.
8. The medical treatment endoscope according to claim 1, wherein a distal end of the openclose operating member which is connected to a front end of the linking parts is disposed at a more distal position of the arm members than that of the second end of the linking parts which is connected to the supporting members such that a pantograph framework is formed by the linking parts and the supporting members.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A medical probe, comprising:
a flexible insertion tube, having a distal end for insertion into a body cavity of a patient;
a distal tip, which is disposed at the distal end of the flexible insertion tube and is configured to be brought into contact with tissue in the body cavity; and
a coupling member, which couples the distal tip to the distal end of the flexible insertion tube and which comprises a tubular piece of an elastic material having a plurality of intertwined helical cuts therethrough along a portion of a length of the piece.
2. The probe according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the helical cuts comprises an enlarged termination.
3. The probe according to claim 2, wherein the enlarged termination comprises a partial ellipse.
4. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of intertwined helical cuts comprises n cuts, where n is an integer greater than 1, and wherein the cuts are configured so that the tubular piece has n-fold rotational symmetry about an axis of the piece.
5. The probe according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the helical cuts subtends an angle between 360\xb0 and 720\xb0 about an axis of the tubular piece.
6. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the coupling member is configured to bend in response to pressure exerted on the distal tip when the distal tip engages the tissue, and wherein at least one of the helical cuts has a width chosen so as to provide a predetermined angular limit on initial bending of the coupling member.
7. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the coupling member comprises a tubular part connected by a fixed connection to the tubular piece.
8. The probe according to claim 7, wherein the tubular piece comprises a stem, and wherein the fixed connection comprises the stem welded to the tubular part.
9. The probe according to claim 7, wherein the tubular part and the tubular piece are arranged so as to form a common circumference thereto, and wherein the fixed connection comprises welds on the common circumference absent regions thereon proximal to respective terminations of the helical cuts.
10. The probe according to claim 7, and comprising a position sensor within the tubular piece.
11. The probe according to claim 10, wherein the position sensor is configured to sense a position of the distal tip relative to the distal end of the insertion tube, the position changing in response to deformation of the coupling member.
12. The probe according to claim 10, wherein the position sensor is configured to generate a signal in response to a magnetic field, and wherein the signal is indicative of a position of the distal tip.
13. The probe according to claim 12, and comprising a magnetic field generator within the tubular part for generating the magnetic field.
14. The probe according to claim 1, wherein the insertion tube, the distal tip and the coupling member are configured for insertion through a blood vessel into a heart of a patient.
15. A method for performing a medical procedure, comprising:
inserting into a body cavity of a patient a probe, which comprises a flexible insertion tube and a distal tip, which is disposed at a distal end of the flexible insertion tube, and a coupling member, which couples the distal tip to the distal end of the flexible insertion tube and comprises a tubular piece of an elastic material having a plurality of intertwined helical cuts therethrough along a portion of a length of the piece; and
bringing the distal tip into contact with tissue in the body cavity.
16. The method according to claim 15, wherein inserting the probe comprises passing the probe through a blood vessel into a heart of the patient.
17. The method according to claim 15, and comprising ablating the tissue with which the distal tip is in contact.
18. A method for producing a medical probe, comprising:
providing a flexible insertion tube, having a distal end for insertion into a body cavity of a patient, and a distal tip, which is disposed at the distal end of the flexible insertion tube and which is configured to be brought into contact with tissue in the body cavity; and
coupling the distal tip to the distal end of the flexible insertion tube using a coupling member, which comprises a tubular piece of an elastic material having a plurality of intertwined helical cuts therethrough along a portion of a length of the piece.
19. The method according to claim 18, wherein at least one of the helical cuts comprises an enlarged termination.
20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the enlarged termination comprises a partial ellipse.
21. The method according to claim 18, wherein the plurality of helical cuts comprises n cuts, where n is an integer greater than 1, and comprising configuring the n cuts so that the tubular piece has n-fold rotational symmetry about an axis of the piece.
22. The method according to claim 18, wherein at least one of the helical cuts subtends an angle between 360\xb0 and 720\xb0 about an axis of the tubular piece.
23. The method according to claim 18, comprising configuring the coupling member to bend in response to pressure exerted on the distal tip when the distal tip engages the tissue, and configuring at least one of the helical cuts to have a width chosen so as to provide a predetermined angular limit on initial bending of the coupling member.
24. The method according to claim 18, wherein the coupling member comprises a tubular part connected by a fixed connection to the tubular piece.