Claims
- 1. An imaging stylet comprising:
a malleable stylet having a longitudinal axis and a proximal end and a distal end; a flexible image guide having a longitudinal axis and a proximal end and a distal end, said image guide being connected to said stylet such that a portion of said image guide runs parallel to a portion of said stylet along the longitudinal axis of said stylet and such that the distal end of said image guide is co-extensive with the distal end of said stylet; means for viewing an image, said viewing means being connected to the proximal end of said image guide; at least one flexible illumination fiber having a proximal end and a distal end, said illumination fiber being connected to said stylet such that a portion of said illumination fiber runs parallel to a portion of said stylet along the longitudinal axis of said stylet and such that the distal end of said illumination fiber is co-extensive with the distal end of said stylet; and a removable sheath having a longitudinal axis and at least one open end, said sheath disposed around the distal ends of said stylet, said image guide, and said illumination fiber such that the longitudinal axis of said sheath substantially coincides with or is parallel with the longitudinal axis of said stylet.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of co-pending patent application Ser. No. 09/007,939, filed Jan. 16, 1998; which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending patent application Ser. No. PCT/US97/17954, filed Oct. 6, 1997; which is a continuation of patent application Ser. No. 08/725,779filed Oct. 4, 1996.
Continuations (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09007939 |
Jan 1998 |
US |
Child |
10001560 |
Oct 2001 |
US |
Parent |
08725779 |
Oct 1996 |
US |
Child |
PCT/US97/17954 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
PCT/US97/17954 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09007939 |
Jan 1998 |
US |