Tubular medical instrument for internal examination - has inner and outer tubes with channels in one confronting surface to house optical fibres and actuating elements

摘要

The tubular medical instrument is used for insertion into body cavities for example into the bile duct or the pancreatic duct. It consists of a flexible inner tube(12) and a flexible external tube(11) enclosing the inner tube. Channels(14) are formed in one of the confronting surfaces of the tubes. The channels may be formed by an extrusion process, and the inner tube may have a rolled surface. The channels are used to house optical fibres, or for actuating rods and wires.