Patent ID: 6236876
Filing Date: 2001-05-22
Classification: A61B,A61M

Abstract:
A medical imaging probe, comprising:at least one pair of control cables for bending the probe by equal and opposite simultaneous reciprocating movement of the control cables;a motor control apparatus connected to the cables;a reversible motor of the motor control apparatus being coupled to the control cables for imparting equal and opposite simultaneous reciprocating movement of the control cables;at least one tension adjusting pulley disposed proximately to at least one of said cable pairs and mechanically linked to at least one lever wherein said at least one tension adjusting pulley is moveable by said at least one lever to engage and alternately disengage with the cable pair to couple and de-couple the cable pair from the drive mechanism; anda slip clutch de-coupling the motor from the control cables in response to farther bending of the probe being resisted by organism tissue, whereby damage to the organism tissue is avoided.