The present disclosure relates generally to rigid and semi-rigid endoscopes.
An endoscope is a medical device used to image an anatomical site (e.g. a body cavity, a hollow organ). Unlike some other medical imaging devices, the endoscope is inserted into the anatomical site (e.g. through small incisions made on the skin of the patient). An endoscope can be employed not only to inspect an anatomical site and e.g. organs therein (and diagnose a medical condition in the anatomical site) but also as a visual aid in surgical procedures. Medical procedures involving endoscopy include laparoscopy, arthroscopy, cystoscopy, ureteroscopy, and hysterectomy.
Aspects of the disclosure, according to some embodiments thereof, relate to elongated shafts of rigid and semi-rigid endoscopes. More specifically, but not exclusively, aspects of the disclosure, according to some embodiments thereof, relate to detachable, elongated shafts—of rigid and semi-rigid endoscopes—including a sterile sleeve wrapped on the elongated shaft. The sleeve is configured to be pulled over the handle (when the shaft is mounted on the handle), such as to fully cover the handle. The sleeve is configured (in its pulled over state) to prevent body fluids (e.g. blood) and debris (e.g. tissue) from reaching the handle, thereby obviating the necessity of sterilizing the handle following each usage of the endoscope. The handle may further be configured to (i) afford a user (e.g. a surgeon) a comfortable and secure grip of the handle, and/or (ii) to be manipulated by a robotic arm or robotic gripping means (e.g. controlled by the surgeon).
According to some embodiments, the shaft is disposable (while the handle is reusable), thereby obviating the necessity of sterilizing the shaft following each usage of the endoscope. Advantageously, this may allow for reduction of manufacturing costs, as the shaft is no longer required to withstand e.g. autoclave sterilization.
Advantageously, according to some embodiments, wherein the endoscope includes a plurality of cameras positioned at a distal section of the shaft, the shaft may be mounted on the handle only at a preferred mounting orientation, thereby ensuring that a combined and consistent panoramic view is obtained from the cameras.
Thus, according to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided an elongated shaft detachably mountable on a reusable handle of a multi-camera endoscope. The elongated shaft includes a shaft body. The shaft body includes at a shaft body distal section at least two cameras and at least one illumination component, and, at a shaft body proximal section, an adaptor. The adaptor is configured to mechanically and electronically detachably couple to a coupling interface on a distal section of the handle, such as to mount the elongated shaft on the handle. The adaptor is further configured to dictate a preferred mounting orientation such that the at least two cameras provide a combined and predetermined at least about 270 degrees horizontal field-of-view (FOV) of a target area within an anatomical cavity when the elongated shaft is mounted on the handle.
According to some embodiments, the elongated shaft further includes a sterile sleeve wrapped on the shaft body. The sleeve includes a sleeve first end, which is circumferentially attached to the shaft body proximal section, and a sleeve second end. The sleeve is configured to be proximally pulled over the handle when the elongated shaft is mounted on the handle, thereby unwrapping the sleeve. The attachment between the sleeve first end and the shaft body proximal section is fluid-tight, thereby preventing fluids and debris from anatomical cavities, into which the elongated shaft is insertable, from reaching the handle when the sleeve is pulled over the handle.
According to some embodiments, the at least two cameras include a front camera on a distal tip of the shaft and a first side-camera.
According to some embodiments, the at least two cameras further include a second side-camera. The first side-camera and the second side-camera are positioned on opposite sides of the shaft. The first side-camera is positioned distally relative to the second side-camera.
According to some embodiments, the elongated shaft is disposable.
According to some embodiments, the shaft body distal section is detachable.
According to some embodiments, the shaft body distal section is reusable and the rest of the of the elongated shaft is disposable.
According to some embodiments, the adaptor includes an interlocking component, which is complementary to an interlocking component on the coupling interface. The interlocking components are configured to prevent coupling between the adaptor and the coupling interface except at the preferred orientation.
According to some embodiments, the adaptor includes a keyed component, which is complementary to a keyed component on the coupling interface. The keyed components are configured to prevent coupling between the adaptor and the coupling interface except at the preferred orientation.
According to some embodiments, the interlocking component includes one or more snap-female receptors. Each of the snap-female receptors is configured to snap-engage a corresponding pin on the coupling interface.
According to some embodiments, the interlocking component includes one or more pins. Each of the pins is configured to be snap-engaged by corresponding snap-female receptor in the coupling interface.
According to some embodiments, the adaptor includes a spring-loaded pin component, which is configured to engage a corresponding flat conductive surface on the coupling interface when the adaptor is coupled to the coupling interface at the preferred orientation.
According to some embodiments, the adaptor includes a flat conductive surface, which is configured to engage a spring-loaded pin component on the coupling interface when the adaptor is coupled to the coupling interface at the preferred orientation.
According to some embodiments, the shaft body is rigid or semi-rigid.
According to some embodiments, each of the at least one illumination component is or includes discrete light source.
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided a multi-camera endoscope including an elongated shaft as described above, and a reusable handle. The elongated shaft is detachably mountable on the handle.
According to some embodiments, the elongated shaft and/or the handle include an authentication mechanism configured to prevent operation of the multi-camera endoscope unless the shaft is authenticated.
According to some embodiments, a used shaft is inauthentic.
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided a detachable elongated shaft mountable on a reusable handle of an endoscope. The elongated shaft includes:
The sterile sleeve includes a sleeve first end, which is circumferentially attached to the shaft proximal section, and a sleeve second end. The adaptor is configured to mechanically and electronically detachably couple to a coupling interface on a distal section of the reusable handle, such as to mount the elongated shaft on the handle. The sterile sleeve is configured to be proximally pulled over the handle when the elongated shaft is mounted on the handle, thereby unwrapping the sterile sleeve. The attachment between the sleeve first end and the shaft proximal section is fluid-tight, thereby preventing fluids and debris from anatomical cavities, into which the elongated shaft is insertable, from reaching the handle when the sleeve is pulled over the handle.
According to some embodiments, in an initial configuration, the sleeve second end is positioned distally to the sleeve first end. When the sterile sleeve has been pulled over the handle, the sleeve second end is positioned proximally to the sleeve first end and a first surface of the sterile sleeve and a second surface of the sterile sleeve have been inverted.
According to some embodiments, the sterile sleeve is tapered such that a circumference of the sleeve second end is greater than a circumference of a sleeve intermediate segment.
According to some embodiments, the sleeve first end is sealably attached to the shaft proximal section by a glue, a band, a snap connector, and/or a tape, and/or is heat-fused or ultrasonically welded thereto.
According to some embodiments, the elongated shaft is disposable.
According to some embodiments, the shaft distal section is detachable.
According to some embodiments, the shaft distal section is reusable and the rest of the elongated shaft is disposable.
According to some embodiments, each of the at least one illumination component is or includes a discrete light source.
According to some embodiments, the elongated shaft is rigid or semi-rigid.
According to some embodiments, the sterile sleeve is further configured to be pulled over a utility cable attached to the handle when the elongated shaft is mounted on the handle.
According to some embodiments, the sterile sleeve is further configured to be pulled over a connector of an external control unit, to which the utility cable is configured to be connected, when the elongated shaft is mounted on the handle and the utility cable is connected to the connector.
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided a multi-camera endoscope including an elongated shaft (with a sterile sleeve wrapped thereon) as described above, and a reusable handle. The elongated shaft is mounted on the handle.
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided an imaging component detachably mountable on a distal end of an elongated member of a multi-camera endoscope (such that the imaging component and elongated member form the shaft of the endoscope). The imaging component includes at least two cameras, at least one illumination component, and an adaptor electrically associated with the at least two cameras and the at least one illumination component. The adaptor is configured to mechanically and electronically detachably couple the imaging component to the distal end of the elongated member. The adaptor is further configured to dictate a preferred coupling orientation, such that the at least two cameras provide a combined and predetermined horizontal field-of-view (FOV) of at least about 270 degrees of a target area within an anatomical cavity, when coupled to the elongated member.
According to some embodiments, the imaging component is disposable.
Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may include some, all, or none of the above advantages. One or more other technical advantages may be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from the figures, descriptions, and claims included herein. Moreover, while specific advantages have been enumerated above, various embodiments may include all, some, or none of the enumerated advantages.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure pertains. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, governs. As used herein, the indefinite articles “a” and “an” mean “at least one” or “one or more” unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.
Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the disclosure, it is appreciated that, according to some embodiments, terms such as “processing”, “computing”, “calculating”, “determining”, “estimating”, “assessing”, “gauging” or the like, may refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data, represented as physical (e.g. electronic) quantities within the computing system's registers and/or memories, into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computing system's memories, registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.
Embodiments of the present disclosure may include apparatuses for performing the operations herein. The apparatuses may be specially constructed for the desired purposes or may include a general-purpose computer(s) selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, magnetic-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable and programmable read only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing electronic instructions, and capable of being coupled to a computer system bus.
The processes and displays presented herein are not inherently related to any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purpose systems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specialized apparatus to perform the desired method(s). The desired structure(s) for a variety of these systems appear from the description below. In addition, embodiments of the present disclosure are not described with reference to any particular programming language. It will be appreciated that a variety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachings of the present disclosure as described herein.
Aspects of the disclosure may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and so forth, which perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Disclosed embodiments may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices.
Some embodiments of the disclosure are described herein with reference to the accompanying figures. The description, together with the figures, makes apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art how some embodiments may be practiced. The figures are for the purpose of illustrative description and no attempt is made to show structural details of an embodiment in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the disclosure. For the sake of clarity, some objects depicted in the figures are not to scale.
In the figures:
The principles, uses, and implementations of the teachings herein may be better understood with reference to the accompanying description and figures. Upon perusal of the description and figures present herein, one skilled in the art will be able to implement the teachings herein without undue effort or experimentation. In the figures, same reference numerals refer to same parts throughout.
In the description and claims of the application, the words “include” and “have”, and forms thereof, are not limited to members in a list with which the words may be associated.
As used herein, the term “about” may be used to specify a value of a quantity or parameter (e.g. the length of an element) to within a continuous range of values in the neighborhood of (and including) a given (stated) value. According to some embodiments, “about” may specify the value of a parameter to be between 99% and 101% of the given value. In such embodiments, for example, the statement “the length of the element is equal to about 1 millimeter” is equivalent to the statement “the length of the element is between 0.99 millimeters and 1.01 millimeters”.
As used herein, according to some embodiments, the terms “substantially” and “about” may be interchangeable.
For ease of description, in some of the figures a three-dimensional cartesian coordinate system (with orthogonal axes x, y, and z) is introduced. It is noted that the orientation of the coordinate system relative to a depicted object may vary from one figure to another. Further, the symbol ⊙ may be used to represent an axis pointing “out of the page”, while the symbol ⊗ may be used to represent an axis pointing “into the page”.
Shaft 102 includes a shaft body 106, e.g. a rigid tubular member. Shaft 102 includes a shaft distal section 112, a shaft central section 114, and a shaft proximal section 116 (i.e. a distal section, a central section, and a proximal section, respectively, of shaft 102). Shaft distal section 112 includes at least two cameras 120 (e.g. a front camera, as seen for example in
According to some embodiments, each of illumination components 122 is or includes a discrete light source. According to some embodiments, illumination components 122 may be mounted on one or more PCBs in shaft distal section 112. According to some embodiments, wherein illumination components 122 include LEDs, the LEDs may include, for example, one or more white light LEDs, infrared LEDs, a near infrared LEDs, an ultraviolet LED, and/or a combination thereof. It is noted that in embodiments wherein illumination components include LEDs configured to produce light outside the visible spectrum (e.g. an infrared LED), cameras 120 will include sensors configured to detect such light (e.g. infrared light). That is, cameras 120 will have capacities of e.g. infrared cameras and so on.
According to some embodiments, illumination components 122 include the distal tips of respective optical fibers (not shown). According to some such embodiments, handle 104 may include one or more light sources connected to one or more optical fibers extending through handle 104 and shaft 102. The optical fibers are configured to guide the light produced by the light sources from handle 104 to shaft distal section 112, wherefrom the guided light may be shone such as to illuminate the field-of-view of cameras 120. According to some embodiments, the light sources may be external to handle 104, being positioned, for example, in a main control unit such as the main control unit depicted in
Handle 104 includes a handle distal section 132 and a handle proximal section 134 (i.e. a distal section and a proximal section of handle 104, respectively). Handle distal section 132 may include a coupling interface 136 configured to be mechanically coupled and electronically coupled with adaptor 124, such as to assemble endoscope 100 (i.e. mount shaft 102 on handle 104) and to functionally associate cameras 120, and optionally illumination components 122, with electronic circuitry/components in handle 104 (and thereby with external systems to which handle 104 is configured to be connected, as depicted in
According to some embodiments, wherein illumination components 122 include the distal tips of optical fibers and handle 104 includes one or more optical fibers for guiding the light from a light source therein or external thereto to shaft distal section 112, coupling interface 136 and adaptor 124 will further include an optical interface (not shown) for connecting the optical fiber(s) in handle 104 to the optical fiber(s) in shaft 102.
Handle distal section 132 may include a user control interface 138 configured to allow a user to control endoscope 100 functions. User control interface 138 may be functionally associated with cameras 120 and illumination components 122 via the electronic coupling between shaft 102 and handle 104 which is provided by adaptor 124 and coupling interface 136. According to some embodiments, user control interface 138 may allow, for example, to control zoom, focus, record/stop recording, and/or freeze frame functions of cameras 120 and/or to adjust the light intensity provided by illumination components 122. According to some embodiments, user control interface 138 may allow to control the presentation of video streams from cameras 120 on an associated monitor (such as the monitor depicted in
Each of cameras 120 may include a sensor, such as a charge coupled device (CCD) image sensor or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor, and a camera lens (e.g. an extreme wide-angle lens) or a lens assembly. According to some embodiments, each of the sensors may be mounted on a respective printed circuit board (PCB). According to some embodiments, all the sensors may be mounted on a common PCB. Cameras 120 may be configured to provide a continuous/panoramic field-of-view (FOV), as elaborated on below in the description of
According to some embodiments, shaft 102 and/or handle 104 include an authentication mechanism(s) configured to prevent operation of endoscope 100 unless shaft 102 is authenticated. According to some such embodiments, a “used” shaft 102, such as a shaft that has already been used in an endoscopy procedure, is inauthentic. According to some embodiments, shaft 102 and/or handle 104 may include processing circuitry configured to identify whether a shaft is authentic. The processing circuitry may be configured to prevent the electronic coupling of shaft 102 to handle 104 unless shaft 102 is authenticated. For example, handle 104 may include an electrical switch which, when open (and when shaft 102 is mounted handle 104), electrically decouples shaft 102 from handle 104, with the processing circuitry being configured to close the electrical switch only when the shaft is authenticated.
Endoscope 100 and monitor 220 may each be functionally associated with main control unit 210. Main control unit 210 includes processing circuitry (e.g. one or more processors and memory components) configured to process (digital data) from cameras 120 (not shown in
Main control unit 210 may include a user interface 212 (e.g. buttons and/or knobs, a touch panel, a touch screen) configured to allow a user to operate main control unit 210 and/or may allow control thereof using one or more input devices 214, e.g. an external user control interface connectable thereto such as a keyboard, a mouse, a portable computer, and/or even a mobile computational device e.g. a smartphone or a tablet. According to some embodiments, input devices 214 may include a voice controller. According to some embodiments, main control unit 210 may further be configured to partially or even fully operate cameras 120 and illumination components 122 (shown in
According to some embodiments, endoscope 100 is functionally associated with main control unit 210 via a utility cable 142 (shown in
Monitor 220 is configured to display images and, in particular, to stream video captured by cameras 120, and may be connected to main control unit 210 by a cable (e.g. a video cable) or wirelessly. According to some embodiments, monitor 220 may be configured to display thereon information regarding the operation of endoscope 100, as specified above. According to some embodiments, monitor 220, or a part thereof, may function as a touch screen. According to some such embodiments, the touch screen may be used to operate main control unit 210. According to some embodiments, images/videos from different cameras (from cameras 120) may be displayed separately (e.g. side-by-side, in an equal aspect ratio, in multiple copies of one or more of the video streams, and the like) on monitor 220, and/or may be presented as a single panoramic image/video. According to some embodiments, user interface 212 and/or input devices 214 are configured to allow switching between images/videos corresponding to different FOVs (of different cameras). For example, according to some embodiments, wherein cameras 120 include a front camera 120a, a first side-camera 120b, and a second side-camera 120c: switching between footage captured by front camera 120a to footage captured by first side camera 120b, switching between footage captured by front camera 120a to footage captured by second side-camera 120c, or switching between a panoramic video generated from the footage of all of cameras 120a, 120b, and 120c to footage captured by one of cameras 120a, 120b, or 120c. Cameras 120a, 120b, and 120c are depicted together in
The field-of-view (FOV) provided by endoscope 100 is the combination of the respective FOVs provided by each of cameras 120. Cameras 120 may be configured to provide a continuous and consistent FOV, or at least a continuous and consistent horizontal FOV (HFOV), as explained below.
The combined HFOV is formed by a front HFOV 310a, a first side-HFOV 310b, and a second side-HFOV 310c of front camera 120a, first side-camera 120b, and second side-camera 120c, respectively. Each of HFOVs 310a, 310b, and 310c lies on the xy-plane. HFOV 310a is positioned between HFOVs 310b and 310c and overlaps with each. A first overlap area 320ab corresponds to an area whereon HFOVs 310a and 310b overlap. In other words, first overlap area 320ab is defined by the intersection of the xy-plane with the overlap region (volume) of the FOVs of front camera 120a and first side-camera 120b. Similarly, a second overlap area 320ac corresponds to an area whereon HFOVs 310a and 310c overlap. A first intersection point 330ab is defined as the point in first overlap area 320ab which is closest to front camera 120a. It is noted that first intersection point 330ab also corresponds to the point in first overlap area 320ab which is closest to first side-camera 120b. Similarly, a second intersection point 330ac is defined as the point in second overlap area 320ac which is closest to front camera 120a. It is noted that second intersection point 330ac also corresponds to the point in second overlap area 320ac which is closest to second side-camera 120c.
The combined FOV (of cameras 120a, 120b, and 120c) is continuous since the panoramic view provided thereby does not contain any gaps (as would have been the case had HFOV 310a not overlapped with at least one of HFOVs 310b and 310c). Further, the combined HFOV is consistent (i.e. seamless) in the sense that the magnifications of the lenses of each of cameras 120a, 120b, and 120c are compatible such that the view of objects (e.g. organs or surgical tools), or parts of objects, in the overlap areas are not distorted and the (overall) combined HFOV merges the combined HFOVs of each front HFOV 310a and first side-HFOV 310b, and front HFOV 310a and second side-HFOV 310c, in a seamless manner Thus, the magnification provided by the lens of first side-camera 120b may be slightly larger than the magnification provided by the lens of front camera 120a to compensate for first intersection point 330ab being closer to front camera 120a than to first side-camera 120b. That is, D1<D2, wherein D1 is the distance between front camera 120a and first intersection point 330ab, and D2 is the distance between first intersection point 330ab and first side-camera 120b. Similarly, the magnification provided by the lens of second side-camera 120c may be slightly larger than the magnification provided by the lens of front camera 120a to compensate for second intersection point 330ac being closer to front camera 120a than to second side-camera 120c.
According to some embodiments, the combined HFOV spans between about 220 degrees to about 270 degrees, between about 240 degrees to about 300 degrees, or between about 240 degrees to about 340 degrees. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, the combined HFOV spans at least about 270 degrees. According to some embodiments, for example, each of HFOVs 310a, 310b, and 310c may measure between about 85 degrees to about 120 degrees, between about 90 degrees to about 110 degrees, or between about 95 degrees to about 120 degrees. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments.
According to some embodiments, shaft 102 may measure between about 100 millimeters and about 500 millimeters in length, and shaft body 106 may have a diameter measuring between about 2.5 millimeters and about 15 millimeters. According to some embodiments, front camera 120a may be offset relative to a longitudinal axis A, which centrally extends along the length of shaft 102. According to some embodiments, the distance between second side-camera 120c and front surface 146 is greater than the distance between first side-camera 120b and front surface 146.
According to some embodiments, front camera 120a may be offset relative to the longitudinal axis A by up to about 0.05 millimeters, up to about 0.1 millimeters, up to about 0.5 millimeters, up to about 1.0 millimeters, up to about 1.5 millimeters, up to about 5.0 millimeters, or up to about 7.0 millimeters. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, for example, front camera 120a may be offset relative to the longitudinal axis A by between about 0.05 millimeters to about 0.1 millimeters, about 0.5 millimeters to about 1.5 millimeters, about 1.0 millimeter to about 5.0 millimeters, about 1.5 millimeters to about 5.0 millimeters, or about 1.0 millimeters to about 7.0 millimeters. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, first side-camera 120b may be positioned at a distance of up to about 1.0 millimeters, up to about 5.0 millimeters, or up to about 15.0 millimeters from front surface 146. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, second side-camera 120c may be positioned at a distance of up to about 1.0 millimeters, up to about 5.0 millimeters, up to about 15.0 millimeters, or up to about 25.0 millimeters from front surface 146, such as to optionally be positioned farther from front surface 146 than first-side-camera 120b. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, for example, first side-camera 120b may be positioned at a distance of between about 1.0 millimeters to about 5.0 millimeters or about 5.0 millimeters to about 15.0 millimeters from front surface 146. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, second side-camera 120c may be positioned at a distance of between about 1.0 millimeters to about 5.0 millimeters, about 5.0 millimeters to about 15.0 millimeters, or about 5.0 millimeters to about 25.0 millimeters from front surface 146, such as to optionally be positioned farther from front surface 146 than first-side-camera 120b. Each possibility corresponds to separate embodiments. According to some embodiments, the positioning of cameras 120 on shaft distal section 112 is selected such as to minimize the space occupied by cameras 120 and reduce the diameter of shaft distal section 112, while affording a continuous and consistent HFOV of at least about 270 degrees.
According to some embodiments, each of cameras 120 is associated with a respective illumination component from illumination components 122, which is configured to illuminate the FOV of the camera. Thus, according to some embodiments, front camera 120a may be associated with a respective front illumination component (not shown in the figures), first side-camera 120b may be associated with a respective first side-illumination component, and second side-camera 120c may be associated with a respective second side-illumination component.
According to some embodiments, not depicted in the figures, cameras 120 include only two cameras, both of which are side cameras with fish eye lenses. In such embodiments, shaft distal section 112 may taper in the distal section, such that the cameras provide a continuous HFOV. According to some embodiments, not depicted in the figures, cameras 120 include only two cameras: a front camera and a side camera.
Also indicated in
Making reference again to
According to some embodiments, and as depicted in
According to some embodiments, adaptor 524 and coupling interface 536 include matching keyed components/patterns which dictate a preferred coupling orientation. For example, and as depicted in
According to some embodiments, and as depicted in
According to some embodiments, and as depicted in
To interlock (mechanically couple) coupling interface 636 and adaptor 624, coupling interface 636 and adaptor 624 must be oriented with respect to one another, such as to allow the insertion of each of pins 601 into a respective one of the slots on cover 664. According to some embodiments, snap-female receptors 603 may be asymmetrically disposed on cover 664, and, accordingly, pins 601 may be similarly asymmetrically disposed on circumferential surface 662, such as to allow the coupling of adaptor 624 and coupling interface 636 only at a single (preferred) orientation. Coupling interface 636 may then be proximally pushed until each of pins 601 is snap-engaged by the respective slot (i.e. the respective snap-female receptor from snap-female receptors 603). That is, until each of pins 601 is forced into the respective head from heads 615. Cover 664 is made of a material (or includes a material around snap-female receptors 603) that is sufficiently flexible or pliable to allow for pins 601 to be forced into heads 615 without necks 619 breaking or deforming in a manner such as to affect, or substantially affect, the strength/quality of the grip on pins 601 provided by heads 615.
Also indicated in
It will be understood that other designs of adaptor 624 and coupling interface 636, not depicted in
Endoscope 700 is similar to endoscope 600 but differs therefrom in the interlocking mechanism. According to some embodiments, handle 704 may be essentially similar to handle 604, and elongated shaft 702 may differ from elongated shaft 602 in including one or more L-shaped slots, instead of A-shaped slots, but may otherwise be essentially similar thereto. More specifically, according to some embodiments, and as depicted in
According to some embodiments, and as depicted in
Each of the snap-female receptors 703 is positioned on cover 764 such that a vertical part 721 of the “L” extends distally from a rim 711 of cover 764 and terminates in a base 723 of the “L”, which extends along circumferential surface 707. In particular, all of bases 723 extend in the same sense (i.e. either clockwise or anti-clockwise) so as to facilitate the interlocking of adaptor 724 and coupling interface 736, as explained below. Further, each of bases 723 may include narrowed portion, such as to facilitate the snap-engagement and gripping of a respective pin from pins 701.
It is noted that while in
To interlock coupling interface 736 and adaptor 724, coupling interface 736 and adaptor 724 must be oriented with respect to one another such as to allow the insertion of each of pins 601 into a respective one of the slots on cover 764, i.e. to insert each of pins 601 into vertical part 721 of the respective slot. According to some embodiments, adaptor 724 and coupling interface 736 are configured to allow interlocking thereof only at a single (preferred) orientation. According to some such embodiments, snap-female receptors 703 may be asymmetrically disposed on cover 764, and, accordingly, pins 701 may be similarly asymmetrically disposed on circumferential surface 762, such that unless oriented with respect to one another at the single (preferred) orientation, adaptor 724 and coupling interface 736 cannot be coupled, as at least one of pins 701 will not be properly positioned relative to the respective snap-female receptor. Coupling interface 736 may then be proximally pushed until each of pins 701 reaches the distal end of the respective vertical part of the slot, following which coupling interface 736 may be turned (either clockwise or anticlockwise depending on the sense in which bases 723 all point) until each of pins 701 is snap-engaged by a respective base from bases 723. Cover 764 may be made of a material (or includes a material around snap-female receptors 703) that is sufficiently flexible or pliable such as to allow for pins 701 to be forced into bases 723 without any breaking or deformation of snap-female receptors 703 in a manner such as to affect, or substantially affect, the strength/quality of the grip on pins 701 provided by bases 723.
It will be understood that other designs of adaptor 724 and coupling interface 736, not depicted in
It will be understood that the scope of the disclosure also covers shafts for semi-rigid endoscopes. As used herein, according to some embodiments, a “semi-rigid endoscope” may refer to an endoscope including a semi-rigid shaft. The semi-rigid shaft may include a rigid elongated member, a distal tip portion, and a maneuvering portion mounted between, and mechanically coupling, the elongated member and the distal tip portion. The semi-rigid shaft includes at least two cameras: a front camera and one or more side-cameras. The front camera is positioned on the distal tip portion. Each of the one or more side cameras may be positioned on the distal tip portion, the maneuvering portion, or the elongated member. The semi-rigid shaft further includes one or more illumination components configured to illuminate the FOV provided by the at least two cameras. The maneuvering portion is configured to bend, rotate, and/or angulate the distal tip portion, and thereby controllably change the combined FOV provided by the at least two cameras.
Thus, according to an aspect of some embodiments, not depicted in the figures, there is provided a semi-rigid endoscope. The semi-rigid endoscope may be similar to any one of endoscopes 100 (whether including shaft 102 or shaft 402), 500, 600, 700, and the endoscope depicted in
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided an endoscope including an elongated shaft mounted on a handle. The shaft includes a shaft distal section (which may also be referred to as “imaging component”), a shaft central section, and a shaft proximal section. The shaft distal section, which may be similar to shaft distal section 412 of elongated shaft 402, is detachable from the rest of the endoscope and may be discarded after a single use. The rest of the endoscope may be reusable. According to some embodiments, wherein the shaft is rigid, the shaft is similar to some embodiments of elongated shaft 402 but differs therefrom in that only the shaft distal section is detachable from the rest of the endoscope (i.e. the rest of the shaft is not detachable from the handle, unlike elongated shaft 402 which may be fully detached). According to some embodiments, the endoscope is semi-rigid.
According to some embodiments, each of endoscopes 100, 500, 600, and 700 may be (i) directly maneuvered by a user through the manipulation of handles 104, 504, 604, and 704, respectively, as well as (ii) indirectly maneuvered, via robotics, e.g. using a robotic arm or other suitable gripping means configured to allow manipulation of handles 104, 504, 604, and 704, respectively.
Endoscope 800 further includes a sleeve 851, shown wrapped on shaft 802. Sleeve 851 is configured to be pulled over handle 804, such as to protect handle 804 from body fluids and debris during an endoscopy procedure (that is, prevent body fluids and debris from reaching handle 804), while affording a user a comfortable grip on handle 804 and comfortable usage of a user control interface 838 on handle 804, as explained below.
Shaft 802 includes a shaft distal section 812, a shaft central section 814, and a shaft proximal section 816. Shaft distal section 812 includes at least two cameras 820, only a side camera of which is shown in
Sleeve 851 includes a sleeve first end 853 and a sleeve second end 855. Sleeve first end 853 may be sealably attached to shaft proximal section 816, as elaborated on below. Sleeve second end 855 may be open. Sleeve 851 may be fluid-proof in the sense of (i) being made of a fluid-proof material and (ii) not including any perforations (in the sheet making up the sleeve). According to some embodiments, sleeve 851 may be made of, or include, a polymeric material, such as thermoplastic including nylon, polyurethane, polyamide, and/or the like. Sleeve first end 853 attachment to shaft proximal section 816 is fluid-tight in the sense of not leaving any space for passage of fluid (e.g. blood and other body fluids) or debris (e.g. bits of tissue) between sleeve first end 853 and shaft proximal section 816. Further, the attachment may include, or form a sealant, to prevent the passage of fluid and debris. According to some embodiments, sleeve first end 853 is sealably attached to shaft proximal section 816, for example, by bonding means such as glue, a snap connector(s), and/or the like. Additionally or alternatively, according to some embodiments, the sealable (fluid-tight) attachment of sleeve first end 853 to shaft proximal section 816 may be effected using heat-fusion, ultrasonic welding, and/or the like. According to some embodiments, sleeve first end 853 may be attached to a shaft proximal end 854 (i.e. the proximal end of shaft 802), or proximately thereto.
According to some embodiments, shaft 802 may be provided in an initial configuration wherein sleeve 851 is wrapped on shaft 816.
According to some embodiments, shaft 802 and sleeve 851 are disposable, while handle 804 is reusable. According to some embodiments, shaft distal section 812 is detachable from the rest of shaft 802, and the rest of shaft 802 (i.e. shaft central section 814 and shaft proximal section 816) and sleeve 851 are disposable, while shaft distal section 812 and handle 804 are reusable. According to some embodiments, shaft 802, sleeve 851, and handle 804 are disposable, and shaft 802 and/or handle 804 are wirelessly communicatively associated with a main control unit, such as main control unit 210 of
Making reference also to
According to some embodiments, at least a sleeve portion 867 of sleeve 851—sleeve portion 867 including sleeve first end 853 or being positioned close thereto—may be transparent or semi-transparent so as to allow a user to clearly see user control interface 838 (which may be a specific embodiment of user control interface 138) on handle distal section 832 when sleeve 851 is fully unwrapped and pulled over handle 804.
According to some embodiments, sleeve second end 855 is configured to be further pulled, such as to cover a main connector 250 included in main control unit 210. Main connector 250 is adapted to receive a plug 890 or a port of cable 842, similar to plug 144 or a port of cable 142 of endoscope 100. According to some embodiments, sleeve second end 855 includes a connection means, such as a snap connector (not shown), configured to allow a user, when sleeve 851 is fully unwrapped, to easily anchor sleeve second end 855 to main connector 250 and to easily detach sleeve second end 855 therefrom (e.g. when the endoscopy procedure is finished).
The shape of sleeve 851 may be adapted to the shape of endoscope 800, particularly so as to facilitate a comfortable grip of handle 804 by a user. In particular, a first portion 871 of sleeve 851, which is configured to extend over cable 842, typically when sleeve 851 is unwrapped and covers both handle 804 and cable 842, may be generally narrower than a second portion 873 (including sleeve portion 867) of sleeve 851, which is configured to extend over handle 804. It will be understood that if a sterile sleeve is incorporated in an endoscope, such as the endoscope depicted in
According to some embodiments, endoscope 800 may be (i) directly maneuvered by a user through the manipulation of handle 804, as well as (ii) indirectly maneuvered using robotics, in which case, handle 804 is gripped by a robotic arm or other suitable robotic gripping means.
It will be understood that the scope of the disclosure also covers semi-rigid endoscopes including a sterile sleeve. Thus, according to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided a semi-rigid endoscope. The semi-rigid endoscope may be similar to endoscope 800 but differs therefrom at least in including a semi-rigid shaft instead of a rigid shaft. The semi-rigid shaft includes a rigid elongated member, a distal tip portion, and a maneuvering portion mounted between, and mechanically coupling, the elongated member and the distal tip portion. The semi-rigid shaft further includes a sleeve, such as sleeve 851 or a differently shaped sleeve (e.g. when the handle of the endoscope is shaped differently from handle 804). In an initial configuration, the sleeve may be wrapped on the elongated member in a similar manner to the wrapping of sleeve 851 on shaft 802 depicted in
Indicated in
According to some embodiments, endoscope 1100 may be (i) directly maneuvered by a user through the manipulation of handle 1104, as well as (ii) indirectly maneuvered using robotics, in which case, handle 1104 is gripped by a robotic arm or other suitable robotic gripping means.
According to some embodiments, not depicted in
According to an aspect of some embodiments, there is provided a rigid endoscope, not depicted in the figures. The endoscope is similar to endoscope 800, in the sense of including a sleeve similar to sleeve 851, but differs from endoscope 800 in including only a single camera instead of two cameras or more.
Persons of ordinary skill in the art should appreciate that handles 804, 1104 may be maneuvered by a user performing a medical procedure either directly or throughout the maneuvering of robotics.
As used herein, according to some embodiments, “shaft” and “elongated shaft” are used interchangeably. Similarly, according to some embodiments, “shaft distal section” and “shaft body distal section” are interchangeable, “shaft central section” and “shaft body central section” are interchangeable, and “shaft proximal section” and “shaft body proximal section” are interchangeable.
It is appreciated that certain features of the disclosure, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the disclosure, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the disclosure. No feature described in the context of an embodiment is to be considered an essential feature of that embodiment, unless explicitly specified as such.
Although steps of methods according to some embodiments may be described in a specific sequence, methods of the disclosure may include some or all of the described steps carried out in a different order. A method of the disclosure may include a few of the steps described or all of the steps described. No particular step in a disclosed method is to be considered an essential step of that method, unless explicitly specified as such.
Although the disclosure is described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that numerous alternatives, modifications and variations that are apparent to those skilled in the art may exist. Accordingly, the disclosure embraces all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. It is to be understood that the disclosure is not necessarily limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components and/or methods set forth herein. Other embodiments may be practiced, and an embodiment may be carried out in various ways.
The phraseology and terminology employed herein are for descriptive purpose and should not be regarded as limiting. Citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the disclosure. Section headings are used herein to ease understanding of the specification and should not be construed as necessarily limiting.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/IL2020/050539 | 5/17/2020 | WO | 00 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62850847 | May 2019 | US |