Patent ID: 11918284
Assignee: INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  H | IPC A  H

Claim 0:
1. A flexible instrument, comprising:
an antenna having a distal tip portion shaped to perforate tissue of a patient, a proximal base, and an antenna body therebetween, wherein the antenna body comprises a patterned cylindrical structure having antenna body elements that are spatially separated from each other, the antenna body having a proximal end coupled to the proximal base and a distal end coupled to the distal tip portion, wherein the distal tip portion is disposed distally of the distal end of the antenna body, the antenna comprising:
a first material having a flexible plastic deformation limit allowing recovery of the antenna body to a substantially initial state after being formed into a tight bend; and
a second material plated onto the first material, wherein the second material being more conductive than the first material; and

an adjustment device configured to adjust pitch lengths between adjacent antenna body elements, wherein the flexible instrument is configured to generate a radiation pattern from the antenna that varies based on the pitch lengths between the adjacent antenna body elements to ablate tissue.