Freely-rotating minimally-invasive medical tool

摘要

The disclosure concerns a minimally-invasive medical instrument with a rotatable inner shaft mounting a medical tool. The medical tool may be, for example, a forceps, a grasper, a cutter or other medical tool useful for therapeutic or diagnostic procedures. The medical tool is desirably used in endoscopic, laparoscopic or other minimally-invasive procedures. The jaws or other end-effectors of the tool are operated by a first control wire, which will act to open or close the jaws or other end-effectors of the tool. A second control wire is used with a camming mechanism to transform linear movement of the second control wire into rotary motion of the inner shaft, thus also rotating the medical tool. The medical tool may thus be oriented at the surgical sit as desired by the surgeon, by rotating the tool without having to remove and re-place the tool within the patient.

主权项

1. A medical instrument, comprising:
a flexible outer shaft; a flexible inner shaft including an outer surface having a groove; a sliding jacket adapted to fit and move axially between the flexible outer shaft and the flexible inner shaft, the sliding jacket further comprising an inner guide pin adapted to fit into the groove; and a first control wire attached to the sliding jacket, wherein axial movement of the control wire and the sliding jacket causes rotation of the flexible inner shaft.