1. A method for operating a medical device to perform an operation in a body, comprising:
inserting a medical device into a body, the medical device comprising:
a sheath including a lumen, a distal end, and a proximal end;
an end effector unit and an elongate member connected to the end effector unit and extending proximally from the end effector unit within the lumen of the sheath, the end effector unit and sheath movable relative to each other such that in a first state the lumen houses the end effector unit and in a second state the end effector unit extends from the distal end of the sheath;
a handle including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of the handle being connected to the proximal end of the sheath, the handle including an actuator; and
a ring disposed along an exterior surface of the handle, wherein the ring is located along the handle closer to the distal end of the handle than the proximal end of the handle;
grasping the handle with a hand of an operator in a position to activate the actuator such that a first finger of the operator’s hand is positioned within the ring;
grasping the sheath with the first finger and another finger of the hand grasping the handle;
advancing the sheath with the first finger and the another finger of the hand grasping the handle to position the end effector unit near a treatment site; and
actuating the actuator of the handle with the same hand used to advance the sheath,
wherein, during the step of actuating the actuator, the ring is stationary relative to a longitudinal axis of the handle, and
wherein, during the step of actuating the actuator, a longitudinal piece disposed internally within the handle slides relative to a proximal opening in the handle.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the end effector unit is a basket having a plurality of legs and the basket is collapsed when the end effector unit is in the first state and the basket is expanded when the end effector unit is in the second state.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein grasping the handle includes positioning a second finger of the hand for actuation of the actuator.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the actuator is an actuating lever that includes a first portion connected to the handle and a second portion formed at an angle to the first portion and wherein actuating the actuating lever comprises locating a first plurality of fingers of the operator at a location positioned to actuate the lever while grasping a distal end of the sheath with a second plurality of fingers from the same hand as the first plurality of fingers.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein grasping the handle with a hand of an operator comprises grasping the handle such that a thumb of the operator is the closest finger of that hand to the proximal end of the sheath.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the ring is rigid and immovably fixed to the handle.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ring projects in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the handle.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the handle includes only one ring.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the ring is not located on the actuator.
10. A method for operating a medical device to perform an operation in a body, comprising:
inserting a medical device into a body, the medical device comprising:
a sheath including a lumen, a distal end, and a proximal end;
an end effector unit and an elongate member connected to the end effector unit and extending proximally from the end effector unit within the lumen of the sheath, the end effector unit and sheath movable relative to each other such that in a first state the lumen houses the end effector unit and in a second state the end effector unit extends from the distal end of the sheath;
a handle including a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end of the handle being connected to the proximal end of the sheath, the handle including an actuator; and
a ring disposed along an exterior surface of the handle, wherein the ring is located along the handle closer to the distal end of the handle than the proximal end of the handle;
grasping the handle with a hand of an operator in a position to activate the actuator such that a first finger of the operator’s hand is positioned within the ring;
grasping the sheath with the first finger and another finger of the hand grasping the handle;
advancing the sheath with the first finger and the another finger of the hand grasping the handle to position the end effector unit near a treatment site; and
actuating the actuator of the handle with the same hand used to advance the sheath,
wherein, during the step of actuating the actuator, the ring is stationary relative to a longitudinal axis of the handle, and wherein the ring is disposed on an exterior surface of the handle about 90\xb0 relative to the actuator, the about 90\xb0 being measured on a plane orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the handle.
11. A medical device, comprising:
a sheath including a lumen, a distal end, and a proximal end;
an end effector unit and an elongate member connected to the end effector unit and extending proximally from the end effector unit within the lumen of the sheath, the end effector unit and sheath movable relative to each other such that in a first state the lumen houses the end effector unit and in a second state the end effector unit extends from the distal end of the sheath;
a handle connected to the proximal end of the sheath and a proximal end of the elongate member, the handle comprising an actuator including a first portion disposed proximate a distal end of the handle and a second portion formed at an angle to the first portion, the second portion extending into the handle through an opening in the handle:
wherein the handle is configured to allow a single hand of an operator to attain a single position to actuate the end effector unit via the actuator and grasp and manipulate the distal end of the sheath; and
a ring disposed on an exterior surface of the handle, the ring configured to accommodate a first finger of the single hand,
wherein the ring is located along the handle closer to the distal end of the handle than a proximal end of the handle, wherein the handle includes only one ring,
wherein the ring and the first portion of the actuator are located at the same axial position along the handle, and
wherein the ring is stationary relative to a longitudinal axis of the handle as the actuator is actuated,
wherein the actuator is operatively connected to a longitudinal piece disposed internally within the handle, the longitudinal piece being slidable relative to a proximal opening in the handle when the actuator is actuated, and
wherein the ring is disposed along an exterior surface of the handle about 90\xb0 relative to the actuator, the about 90\xb0 being measured on a plane orthogonal to a longitudinal axis of the handle.
12. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the actuator is an actuator lever.
13. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the ring is positioned to permit a second finger of the single hand to actuate the actuator when the first finger is within the ring.
14. The medical device of claim 13, wherein the ring is positioned to permit at least a third finger of the single handle to grasp and manipulate the sheath when the first finger is within the ring and the second finger is positioned to actuate the actuator.
15. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the ring is immovably fixed to the handle.
16. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the ring projects in a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the handle.
17. The medical device of claim 11, wherein the ring is not located on the actuator.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
What is claimed is:
1. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display, comprising the steps of:
determining at least one topic;
retrieving at least one content associated with the topic; and
mapping the content representative of the topic on the display as a multi-dimensional topic space.
2. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, wherein a user action results in a dynamic mapping of a view of the content.
3. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 2, wherein a topic influences the display of the information.
4. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, wherein content influences the view to expose additional detail pertaining to the display of information.
5. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, wherein a field of relevance includes detecting a change of the field of relevance to provide display of information pertaining to the field of relevance based on the change.
6. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, wherein mapping the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance, includes the steps of:
determining relative salience of the content;
calculating a spatial location for the content based upon the relative salience of the content; and
displaying the content at the spatial location of the content.
7. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, wherein the user indicia is supplied by positioning a cursor.
8. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, including the steps of:
assigning a vector to one or more of the topics;
determining a focal point based on one or more of the topics; and
displaying content pertaining to the topics based upon the vectors as the vectors correlate with the focal point.
9. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, including the step of utilizing a user position to map the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on the display.
10. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, including the step of mapping the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance in a multi-dimensional manner and navigating to a topic in the field of relevance in a multi-dimensional manner.
11. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 1, including the step of mapping the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on a plurality of projection surfaces on the display.
12. A method for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 11, including the step of mapping the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on a plurality of projection surfaces of a polyhedron on a display.
13. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display, comprising:
code that determines at least one topic;
code that retrieves content representative of the topic;
code that maps the content representative of the topic on the display.
14. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, wherein at least one topic results in a dynamic mapping of a view of the content.
15. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 14, wherein a topic influences display of the information.
16. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, wherein content influences a view exposing additional detail pertaining to the content on the display.
17. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, wherein a field of relevance includes detecting a change of the field of relevance and displaying information pertaining to the field of relevance based on the change.
18. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, wherein mapping the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on the display in a manner centering attention on the content, includes:
code that determines relative salience of the content;
code that calculates a spatial location for the content based upon the relative salience of the content; and
code that displays the content at the spatial location of the content.
19. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, wherein the user indicia is supplied by positioning a cursor and selecting the area on the display.
20. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, including:
code that assigns a vector to one or more of the topics;
code that selects a focal vector based on one or more of the topics;
code that displays content pertaining to the topics based upon the vectors as the vectors correlate with the focal vector.
21. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, including code that utilizes a position to map the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on the display and code that displays a field of 5 relevance on the display.
22. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, including code that maps the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance in a multi-dimensional manner and displays the topic in the field of relevance in a multi-dimensional manner.
23. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, including code that maps the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on a plurality of projection surfaces on the display, displays the topic in the field of relevance on a plurality of projection surfaces and presents the information in the field of relevance utilizing multimedia presentation techniques.
24. A computer program embodied on a computer readable medium for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display as recited in claim 13, including code that maps the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on a plurality of projection surfaces of a polyhedron on the display and code that traverses the polyhedron to display the topic in the field of relevance.
25. An apparatus for displaying information in a multi-dimensional topic space on a display, comprising:
a processor with an attached memory;
a display coupled to the processor that displays information;
logic that determines at least one topic in the relevant field;
logic that retrieves content representative of the topic;
logic that maps the content representative of the topic in the field of relevance on the display to form a multi-dimensional topic space.