Patent ID: 11925430
Assignee: CANON U.S.A., INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 10:
11. A method comprising:
providing a sterile drape that includes a flexible body section, a barrier section, and an attaching section, the flexible body section having a non-sterile inner surface, a sterile outer surface, a proximal end, and a distal end; the barrier section made of rigid or semi-rigid material and including an opening, and the attaching section including one or more tabs, wherein the barrier section is attached to the proximal end of the flexible body section, and the one or more tabs are attached to the distal end of flexible body section; and
establishing a connection between a non-sterile component and a sterile component of medical equipment without breaking sterility of the sterile component, wherein the establishing a connection between the non-sterile component and the sterile component, comprises:
preloading the sterile drape in a folded state onto the sterile component by aligning the opening of the barrier section with a connecting portion of the sterile component, and pulling from the one or more tabs in a first direction, such that the connecting portion of the sterile component fits tightly through the opening of the barrier section, and the barrier section slides in the first direction with respect to the connecting portion;
positioning the sterile component preloaded with the sterile drape in close proximity to the non-sterile component; and
deploying the flexible body section over the non-sterile component at the same time as connecting the sterile component and the non-sterile component to each other,
wherein the deploying of the flexible body section over the non-sterile component includes pulling from the one or more tabs in a second direction opposite to the first direction so as to unfold the flexible body section, to thereby at least partially enclose the non-sterile component with the unfolded flexible body section.