Patent Application
20220039784
The present disclosure relates generally to the medical robotics and particularly catheters and endoscopes and to the field of hydraulic/pneumatic lines.
There are various catheters and endoscopes that have been developed to steer a medical device to a target for visualization and/or surgery. Many provide a simple bend, but some are steerable and have tendons that can push the end or other portions of the device to steer the catheter in a particular direction. Tendons with both push and pull functionality are also described. However, directly actuating articulating wires/cables over a distance can be cost, size, force, and weight prohibitive, particularly in medical devices where a small size can be necessary.
Hydraulic/pneumatic lines to apply force at a distance, none have been used to push/pull structures which, in turn, cause articulated movement. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,394 which describe hydraulically applying force in conjunction with a return spring to move an object.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide a catheter or endoscopy using hydraulic/pneumatic lines to actuate movement.
Accordingly, it is a broad object of the present disclosure to provide a medical apparatus comprising an articulated movement portion. This portion comprises a central lumen extending the length of the articulated movement portion, a wall formed about the central lumen, and two or more tendons slideably situated in the wall. A transition portion comprises two or more actuation rods, each being mechanically coupled to one of the two or more tendons, two or more springs, and two or more distal stoppers, wherein the transition portion is configured such that movement of each distal stopper causes movement of each tendon. Proximal to the transition portion is a conduit portion comprising two or more lumen filled with air or hydraulic fluid and each being sealed at the distal end by one of the two or more distal stoppers and a translation portion comprising at least one proximal stopper. A power unit is proximal to the translation portion and is configured to cause hydraulic fluid or air to move through the two or more lumens extending through the conduit such that the tendons move.
According to other aspects of the present disclosure, one or more additional devices, systems, and methods using the medical apparatus are discussed herein. Further features of the present disclosure will in part be understandable and will in part be apparent from the following description and with reference to the attached drawings.
For the purposes of illustrating various aspects of the disclosure, wherein like numerals indicate like elements, there are shown in the drawings simplified forms that may be employed, it being understood, however, that the disclosure is not limited by or to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown. To assist those of ordinary skill in the relevant art in making and using the subject matter hereof, reference is made to the appended drawings and figures, wherein:
One or more devices/apparatuses, systems, and methods for catheters and endoscopes having articulated movement are described.
In some embodiments, there is described a multi-channel lumen conduit for hydraulic fluid or air. In addition to the endoscopes with channels for tools such as biopsy forceps, imaging device, cutter or other surgical tools, there is provided herein additional channel(s) for hydraulic/pneumatic channels within the medical device that control the tendon the provide bendability to the distal end of the medical apparatus. In some embodiments, a combination of return springs and hydraulic (or pneumatic) lumens in a multi-lumen tube are used to actuate the tendons.
An outer sheath 21 may be formed around the articulated movement portion, and it may also extend to cover the transition portion 2. The transition portion 2 is comprised of actuation rods 23 which are attached to the articulation tendons 22. The transition portion also includes return springs 24, and distal stoppers 25, where the return springs 24 will return the actuation rods 23 to their distal position when not acted on by movement of the distal stopper 25. The transition portion may be provided as shown in
The articulated movement portion 1, is shown with four cylindrical rings in
In some embodiments, the return springs 24, at neutral pressure, return the tendon to the neutral position that can release the push' from the actuated actuation rods 23. In other embodiments, the return springs 24 are preloaded with an applied pressure. When this specific pressure is applied, the tendon (and the articulation movement portion for application to all tendons) is at a neutral position. When the pressure is fully relived for a spring, the spring will return to its natural length and ‘pull’ the tendon to a maximum amount.
In some embodiments, the connection between the conduit and the distal stopper is not linear such as is as shown in
In some additional embodiments, the transition portion comprises two springs for every actuation rod and stopper. The springs are located on both sides of the stopper and act to return the stopper to the neutral position (or beyond the neutral position) at equilibrium. The presence of both springs acts as a safety mechanism, in case there is a leak in the pressure line. To have the ability to push as well as pull in these embodiments, there are hydraulic/pneumatic chamber on both sides of the stopper that are actuated independently.
In yet other embodiments, in the transition portion, the stopper is attached to a pinion. The tendon is then attached to a rack, which is in contact with the pinion. As the stopper is moved by hydraulic or pneumatic force, this causes the pinion to rotate, thereby moving the rack linearly. Because the tendon is attached to the rack, when the rack moves, the tendon moves as well.
Cross section
In use, the system as described by this embodiment functions as follows and as illustrated by
The fluid/air conduit portion 3 is preferably flexible such that it can be manipulated with minimal trauma to the patient. However, because of the nature of this invention, the lumens which the gas or fluid travels through needs to be as non-compliant as possible. One solution is to have braided inserts in the gas/fluid lumens 28, such as shown in
In another embodiment, there is provide a variation to the fluid/air conduit portion 3 as shown in
In another embodiment, there is described a system where the return springs 24 in
In some embodiments, the movement of an articulated endoscope device could require multiple tendons to be pulled and pushed. For example, it could require 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or more tendons. These tendons can have both push and pull motion. Further, the articulated endoscope may comprise a single bendable section with, for example, 1, 2 or 3 tendons. In other embodiments, the endoscope may have 2, 3, 4, 5 or more separate bendable sections, each controlled by its own 1, 2, or 3 (or more) tendons. An exemplary multiple section endoscope with these features is described in U.S. Pat. Pub. 2019/0105468 and WO/2020/086749, each of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety. These separate bendable sections may each be the same length or different.
These tendons and the endoscope itself are flexible and able to navigate, for example, various lumens within a body. In some embodiments, the navigation occurs near the entrance to the body, but in others, a long section or support structure will be used to get the articulating endoscope device to the area in interest, such as using a bronchoscope to enter and navigate the trachea. This long length can affect how the endoscope is preferably handled and controlled.
In some embodiments, the volume and weight of the drive motors/mechanisms could be ergonomically undesirable to contain in the handle. Thus, in one embodiment, the drive mechanism is housed in an enclosure, separate from the handle.
To simply lengthen the tendons could cause, in some embodiments, complications of increased actuation forces and/or tendon kinking. One solution to this is to use a combination of return springs and hydraulic (or pneumatic) in a multi-lumen tube to actuate the tendons.
As described herein there may be multiple hydraulic actuators coupled through a multi-lumen conduit. These multiple actuators can control the same bendable section or different bendable sections within an endoscope.
Thus, there is provided an endoscopic device comprising: hydraulic (or pneumatic) actuators to pull and push control tendons in an articulated tip endoscopic device; a power unit, remote from the articulated tip, that is configured to apply forces on one or more actuation rod(s) with stopper(s) on the end. The stoppers are preferably placed in the one or more fluid/air filled channel(s) of a conduit. As the stoppers move, the compression of the air/fluid causes movement in a stopper(s) at the far end of the channel.
This distal stopper, in turn, causes an actuation tendon(s) to move toward the tip. This tendon movement causes the tip to bend. When power unit of the system relaxes the pressure on the fluid/air, then return spring in the tip push the distal stopper(s) back to a neutral position, bending the tip back to a neutral position.
In some embodiments, multiple lumen fluid/air channels are provided with multiple simultaneous actuation movements.
Although the disclosure herein has been described with reference to particular embodiments, it is to be understood that these embodiments are merely illustrative of the principles and applications of the present disclosure (and are not limited thereto). It is therefore to be understood that numerous modifications may be made to the illustrative embodiments and that other arrangements may be devised without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications, equivalent structures and functions.
It is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to any particular embodiment. It is also to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing exemplary embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting.
Throughout the figures, the same reference numerals and characters, unless otherwise stated, are used to denote like features, elements, components or portions of the illustrated embodiments. In addition, while the subject disclosure is described in detail with reference to the enclosed figures, it is done so in connection with illustrative exemplary embodiments. It is intended that changes and modifications can be made to the described exemplary embodiments without departing from the true scope and spirit of the subject disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Although the drawings represent some possible configurations and approaches, the drawings are not necessarily to scale and certain features may be exaggerated, removed, or partially sectioned to better illustrate and explain certain aspects of the present disclosure. The descriptions set forth herein are not intended to be exhaustive or otherwise limit or restrict the claims to the precise forms and configurations shown in the drawings and disclosed in the following detailed description.
Those skilled in the art will recognize that, in general, terms used herein, and especially in the appended claims (e.g., bodies of the appended claims) are generally intended as “open” terms (e.g., the term “including” should be interpreted as “including but not limited to,” the term “having” should be interpreted as “having at least,” the term “includes” should be interpreted as “includes but is not limited to,” etc.). It will be further understood by those within the art that if a specific number of an introduced claim recitation is intended, such an intent will be explicitly recited in the claim, and in the absence of such recitation no such intent is present. For example, as an aid to understanding, the following appended claims may contain usage of the introductory phrases “at least one” and “one (or two) or more” to introduce claim recitations. However, the use of such phrases should not be construed to imply that the introduction of a claim recitation by the indefinite articles “a” or “an” limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim recitation to claims containing only one such recitation, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases “one or more” or “at least one” and indefinite articles such as “a” or “an” (e.g., “a” and/or “an” should typically be interpreted to mean “at least one” or “one or more”); the same holds true for the use of definite articles used to introduce claim recitations.
When a feature or element is herein referred to as being “on” another feature or element, it can be directly on the other feature or element or intervening features and/or elements may also be present. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being “directly on” another feature or element, there are no intervening features or elements present. It will also be understood that, when a feature or element is referred to as being “connected”, “attached”, “coupled” or the like to another feature or element, it can be directly connected, attached or coupled to the other feature or element or intervening features or elements may be present. In contrast, when a feature or element is referred to as being “directly connected”, “directly attached” or “directly coupled” to another feature or element, there are no intervening features or elements present. Although described or shown with respect to one embodiment, the features and elements so described or shown in one embodiment can apply to other embodiments. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed “adjacent” to another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.
As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an”, and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should be further understood that the terms “includes” and/or “including”, “comprises” and/or “comprising”, “consists” and/or “consisting” when used in the present specification and claims, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof not explicitly stated. Further, in the present disclosure, the transitional phrase “consisting of” excludes any element, step, or component not specified in the claim. It is further noted that some claims or some features of a claim may be drafted to exclude any optional element; such claims may use exclusive terminology as “solely,” “only” and the like in connection with the recitation of claim elements, or it may use of a “negative” limitation.
In referring to the description, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the examples disclosed. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily lengthen the present disclosure. Unless defined otherwise herein, 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 invention belongs. The breadth of the present invention is not to be limited by the subject specification, but rather only by the plain meaning of the claim terms employed.
In describing example embodiments illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology is employed for the sake of clarity. However, the disclosure of this patent specification is not intended to be limited to the specific terminology so selected and it is to be understood that each specific element includes all technical equivalents that operate in a similar manner.
While the present disclosure has been described with reference to exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of the following claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent structures and functions.
The present application claims the benefit of priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/062,235 filed Aug. 6, 2020. The disclosure of the above-listed provisional application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. Priority benefit is claimed under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e).
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63062235 | Aug 2020 | US |
