초록 ▼

A surgical instrument is described for use with a flexible endoscope. The instrument includes a tubular member such as a catheter, in which a surgical tool is placed. The tool is formed of a working end and a control wire connected thereto and formed of a helically twisted flat ribbon sized to slidi

A surgical instrument is described for use with a flexible endoscope. The instrument includes a tubular member such as a catheter, in which a surgical tool is placed. The tool is formed of a working end and a control wire connected thereto and formed of a helically twisted flat ribbon sized to slidingly fit within the lumen of the tubular member. With a helically twisted control wire, the instrument may be bent and flexed in any plane without breakage, yet preserving accurate axial positional control substantially without longitudinal backlash. A distal end of the tubular member has a predetermined bend, with a channel cut therein in a manner selected to enable the working end of the tool, such as a knife, to be automatically moved into the channel and thus reliably extended from a side of the distal end of the catheter. A manipulator is used at the proximal end of the endoscope to precisely control the position of the working end of the surgical tool.

대표청구항 ▼

A surgical instrument for use with an endoscope to cut tissue under endoscopic control said instrument and endoscope each having a proximal end and a distal end, comprising flexible hollow tubular means having a length commensurate with that needed to extend from the proximal end to the distal end o

A surgical instrument for use with an endoscope to cut tissue under endoscopic control said instrument and endoscope each having a proximal end and a distal end, comprising flexible hollow tubular means having a length commensurate with that needed to extend from the proximal end to the distal end of the endoscope, said tubular means having a lumen of a preselected diameter; flexible wire means for conducting high frequency current to a distal end of the wire means to the tissue to be cut substantially contained within said tubular means; manipulator means connected to the flexible wire means to extend and retract a distal end of said wire means out from and into the distal end of the tubular means; said wire means including a flat helically twisted ribbon over its length, said ribbon having a width corresponding to the diameter of the lumen of said tubular means so as to enable longitudinal motion of the wire means while reducing relative radial motion thereof within the lumen; said ribbon having a thickness which is thin relative to the lumen diameter such as to occupy a cross-section of generally less than that of the lumen to form a passageway for fluid to be passed through said tubular means past the wire means.