Various aspects of this disclosure relate generally to handles, connectors, and shafts of medical devices. More specifically, embodiments of this disclosure relate to rotatable connector assemblies for use with a handle of an endoscope or other medical device, among other aspects.
During endoscopic procedures, a medical professional operating an endoscope often wraps his/her entire palm around a grip or handle portion of the device. Various actuators on the handle of the endoscope require the medical professional to contort his/her hands and move the handle frequently and for prolonged periods of time during a procedure, which can cause strain, or even an injury. In some cases, actuation of different scope controls, like knobs or an elevator, may result in the shaft of the endoscope becoming twisted and may exert excessive force on the handle of the endoscope, which may result in strain in the medical professional's hand. Endoscope operators can experience wrist and hand discomfort resulting from holding and manipulating the endoscope's handle, in some cases due to force applied by a twisted proximal portion of the shaft of the endoscope as the handle is moved in the operating room. In some cases, for example, medical professionals may experience symptoms similar to those of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or tendonitis. When a medical professional experiences fatigue or other pain in the fingers, hand, or wrist, the medical professional may shift from a primary grip position to a secondary grip position that may be a less powerful grip than the primary grip position, such as shifting from a four finger grip to a three finger grip. Repeatedly bending and maneuvering of the wrist to adjust positioning of the endoscope can increase fatigue or other pain.
When a medical professional repeatedly readjusts his or her hand grip in between procedure tasks, the procedure may be prolonged and procedural tasks may be more difficult. Depending on the strength of a medical professional's hand and arm, force applied to the handle by a twisted proximal portion of the endoscope may increase the number of readjustments of the professional's hand during a procedure.
Aspects of the disclosure relate to, among other things, systems, devices, and methods for alleviating force applied to a medical device's handle by a twisted distal portion of the device. The systems, devices, and methods of this disclosure may facilitate a user's hand grip on an endoscope or other medical device. Endoscopes and other medical devices with a handle that may rotate relative to a proximal shaft portion may help address user hand fatigue or strain, may help reduce the need for hand grip readjustments, and may help address other issues. Each of the aspects disclosed herein may include one or more of the features described in connection with any of the other disclosed aspects.
According to one aspect, a connector assembly for a medical device may comprise a sleeve configured to fixedly couple to a shaft of the medical device and rotatably couple to a handle of the medical device; a collar positioned around the sleeve and configured to couple to the sleeve such that collar (i) may move in a proximal and distal direction relative to sleeve and (ii) may rotate sleeve about a central longitudinal axis when the collar is rotated about the central longitudinal axis; and a biasing member. The connector assembly may be configured to transition between a neutral position and an engaged position.
In other aspects the connector assembly may include one or more of the following features. The knob portion and the collar cannot rotate relative to the handle in the neutral position; and the knob portion and the collar can rotate relative to the handle in the engaged position. The connector assembly may further comprise a knob portion positioned around the collar; and the knob portion may include ribs. The sleeve may include at least one protrusion at a proximal portion of the sleeve, and the at least one protrusion is configured to be received in a recess of the handle. The biasing member may be a spring. The connector assembly may further comprise a tube extending through the collar. The sleeve may include a series of longitudinal ribs and the collar may include a series of longitudinal recesses configured to receive the longitudinal ribs. The longitudinal ribs may be configured to move proximally and distally through the longitudinal recesses. The collar may include a protrusion extending circumferentially around a central longitudinal axis of the collar. The knob portion may include a recess extending circumferentially around a radially-inward facing surface of the knob portion, and the recess may be configured to receive the protrusion. Each of the collar, the knob portion, and the sleeve may be approximately cylindrical and includes a respective central longitudinal lumen. The collar may include a series of teeth extending proximally from a proximal end portion of the collar. The series of teeth may be configured to be received by a complimentary series of teeth of the handle. The series of teeth of the collar may be received by the complimentary series of teeth of the handle in the neutral position; and the series of teeth of the collar may be spaced from the complimentary series of teeth of the handle in the engaged position. The collar may be fixedly coupled to the knob portion.
In other aspects, a medical device may comprise a handle body; a shaft extending longitudinally to a distal tip; and a connector assembly. The connector assembly may comprise a sleeve fixedly coupled to the shaft and rotatably coupled to a handle body; a collar positioned around the sleeve and coupled to the sleeve such that collar (i) is movable in a proximal and distal direction relative to sleeve and (ii) is rotatable about a central longitudinal axis of the medical device during rotation of the collar about the central longitudinal axis; a knob portion positioned around the collar; and a biasing member. The connector assembly may be configured to transition between a neutral position and an engaged position.
In other aspects the connector assembly may include one or more of the following features. The collar may include a series of teeth extending proximally from a proximal end portion of the collar; and the series of teeth may be configured to be received by a complimentary series of teeth of the handle body. The sleeve may include protrusions at a proximal portion of the sleeve, and the protrusions are configured to be received in recesses of the handle body.
In other aspects, a method of operating a medical device that includes a handle and a shaft extending longitudinally from the handle, the method may comprise: moving a knob portion of a connector assembly distally and compressing a biasing member of the connector assembly; rotating the knob portion about a central longitudinal axis of the knob portion relative to the handle; and releasing the knob portion to fixedly couple the shaft to the handle. In some examples, moving the knob portion of the connector assembly distally may include moving teeth of a collar of the connector assembly away from teeth at a proximal end portion of the handle.
It may be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate exemplary aspects of this disclosure and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
Reference will now be made in detail to aspects of this disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same or similar reference numbers will be used through the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. The term “distal” refers to a portion farthest away from a user when introducing a device into a patient. By contrast, the term “proximal” refers to a portion closest to the user when placing the device into the patient. Throughout the figures included in this application, arrows labeled “P” and “D” are used to show the proximal and distal directions in the figure. As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements, but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. The term “exemplary” is used in the sense of “example,” rather than “ideal.” Further, relative terms such as, for example, “about,” “substantially,” “approximately,” etc., are used to indicate a possible variation of ±10% in a stated numeric value or range.
Embodiments of this disclosure may improve a user's ability to grip, manipulate, and otherwise apply force to a handle, and actuators of the handle, of a medical device, such as an endoscope, during a medical procedure and, as non-limiting exemplary benefits, help reduce the need to reposition a user's hand during a procedure and reduce strain to a user's hand from excessive movement, among other aspects. Embodiments of this disclosure may also facilitate rotation of a medical device shaft relative to a handle of the medical device.
Distal tip 119 may include an imaging device (e.g., a camera) and a lighting source (e.g., an LED or an optical fiber). Distal tip 119 may be side-facing. That is, the imaging device and the lighting source may face radially outward, perpendicularly, approximately perpendicularly, or otherwise transverse to a longitudinal axis of shaft 108 and distal tip 119. In alternatives, distal tip 119 may be forward-facing. That is, the imaging device and the lighting device may face approximately along a longitudinal axis of distal tip 119 and shaft 108.
In operating endoscope system 100, a user may use his/her left hand to hold the handle assembly 106 (shown in
Furthermore, for some conventional endoscopes, users may have to strain their wrists and/or awkwardly contort their hands in order to position shaft 108 and distal tip 119 at an appropriate position within the patient's body, such as when a camera at the distal tip 119 is facing a target area. For example, with some conventional endoscopes, the users may rotate handle assembly 106, producing an awkward angle for gripping and operating elements of handle assembly 106. The connector assembly discussed herein may also facilitate rotation of shaft 108 and positioning of distal tip 119 during operation of some conventional endoscopes, thereby reducing and/or alleviating strain to a user's wrist, fingers, and/or hand.
A collar 409 is positioned between handle 320 and shaft 351. A radially-outer surface, relative to axis 399, of collar 409 abuts a radially-inward facing surface, relative to axis 399, of knob portion 407. Collar 409 includes a protrusion 511 extending circumferentially around collar 409, and protrusion 511 is received within a recess 457 of knob portion 407. Protrusion 511 may be configured to restrict radial and linear movement between knob portion 407 and collar 409 such that knob portion 407 and collar 409 move integrally with each other (i.e., as a single component). Collar 409 includes teeth 505-509 (shown in
A sleeve 403 may be fixedly coupled to a proximal end portion of shaft 351 and may be rotatably coupled to handle 320. Sleeve 403 may be approximately cylindrical and may include a central lumen 405 extending longitudinally through sleeve 403. Sleeve 403 may extend through a central lumen of collar 409, and a radially-outer surface of sleeve 403, relative to axis 399, may abut a radially-inward facing surface of collar 409. In some examples, sleeve 403 may include one or more protrusions 479 extending radially-outward relative to axis 399, and the one or more protrusions 479 may be received within recesses 481 of handle 320. The one or more protrusions 479 may allow sleeve to rotate about axis 399 relative to handle 320, but may not move proximally or distally relative to handle 320. Sleeve 403 is coupled to collar 409 in such a way that collar 409 may move freely relative to sleeve 403 in the proximal and distal directions, and rotation of collar 409 about axis 399 may also rotate sleeve 403 about axis 399. Sleeve 403 may be fixedly coupled to shaft 351 such that rotation of sleeve 403 also rotates shaft 351. Sleeve 403 may be metal, plastic, and/or any other suitable material known in the art.
In operation of endoscope 300, connector assembly 350 may allow a user to rotate shaft 351 relative to handle 320 without adjusting the user's grip on handle 320, for example without contorting the user's wrist.
For a user to rotate shaft 351 about axis 399 relative to handle 320, the user first grasps knob portion 407 and pushes knob portion 407 distally. As shown in
Once the user has finished rotating shaft 351, the user may release knob portion 407 and spring 411 may push knob portion 407 and collar 409 proximally to re-engage teeth 505-509 of collar 409 with teeth 565 of handle 320.
Medical devices, such as endoscopes, connector assemblies, and handles of this disclosure may assist with ergonomically positioning a user's hand and wrist when the user operates endoscope 101 or other medical devices, may reduce hand strain caused by excessive movement and/or bending of the wrist when the user operates an endoscope 101, 300, and may reduce the chance of the user losing his or her grip. Also, the medical devices, connector assemblies, and handles may help prevent repeated repositioning of a user's hand on a medical device handle due to fatigue, strain, or other difficulty. Furthermore, medical devices, connector assemblies, and handles may help facilitate positioning of a distal end portion of a medical device without excessive hand strain due to rotation of a handle. Each of the aforementioned connector assemblies, whether used in conjunction with an endoscope system or any other medical device, may be used to enhance and/or facilitate a user's grip on a handle. Any portion of the connector assemblies discussed herein may be incorporated into a handle of an endoscope or other medical device to improve a user's operation of the device.
It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations may be made in the disclosed devices and methods without departing from the scope of the disclosure. Other aspects of the disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the features disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and embodiments be considered as exemplary only.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/363,203, filed Apr. 19, 2022, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63363203 | Apr 2022 | US |