Source: https://patents.google.com/patent/US8684952B2/en
Timestamp: 2019-04-19 15:08:02+00:00

Document:
2018-12-04 Assigned to HANSEN MEDICAL, INC. reassignment HANSEN MEDICAL, INC. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: ENDOVIA MEDICAL, INC.
This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 10/270,743, filed Oct. 11, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/332,287 filed Nov. 21, 2001, and is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/216,067 filed Aug. 8, 2002 (now abandoned), which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/313,497 filed Aug. 21, 2001, and is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/023,024 (now abandoned), Ser. No. 10/011,371 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,090,683, issued Aug. 15, 2006), Ser. No. 10/011,449 (now abandoned), Ser. No. 10/010,150 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,214,230, issued May 8, 2007), Ser. No. 10/022,038 (now abandoned), Ser. No. 10/012,586, all filed Nov. 16, 2001, and all of which claim the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/269,200 filed Feb. 15, 2001, 60/276,217 filed Mar. 15, 2001, 60/276,086 filed Mar. 15, 2001, 60/276,152 filed Mar. 15, 2001, and 60/293,346 filed May 24, 2001. The entire teachings of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.
As can be seen in FIG. 1, the handle 60 has wheels or dials 62 and 64 that can be manually operated by the surgeon during a procedure. Manipulation of the dials 62 and 64 are transmitted through the control wiring 40 to the distal end 36 to control the flexing or bending of the distal end in respective orthogonal directions.
In a particular embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the operation of the drive system of FIG. 1 is automated. That is, the system shown in FIG. 2 modifies the construction of that shown in FIG. 1 by providing for automatic control of a catheter 130, which at its distal end is substantially the same as the catheter 30 shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A.
Details of an automated catheter drive system are describe in the U.S. Application entitled “Coaxial Catheter System,” by Weitzer, Rogers, and Solbjor, Ser. No. 10/270,740, filed herewith, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. Details of a imaging system that aids the movement of the catheter through an anatomic body are describe in the U.S. application entitled “Catheter Tracking System,” by Weitzner and Lee, Ser. No. 10/216,669, filed herewith, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. application Ser. No. 09/783,637 filed Feb. 14, 2001, which is a continuation of PCT application Serial No. PCT/US00/12553 filed May 9, 2000, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/133,407 filed May 10, 1999; U.S. application entitled “Articulated Apparatus for Telemanipulator System,” by Brock and Lee, Ser. No. 10/208,087, filed Jul. 29, 2002, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/827,503 filed Apr. 6, 2001, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/746,853 filed Dec. 21, 2000, which is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/375,666 filed Aug. 17, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,017 which issued on Mar. 6, 2001, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/028,550 filed Feb. 24, 1998, which is now abandoned; PCT application Serial No. PCT/US01/11376 filed Apr. 6, 2001, which claims priority to U.S. application Ser. No. 09/746,853 filed Dec. 21, 2000, and U.S. application Ser. No. 09/827,503 filed Apr. 6, 2001; U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/014,143, 10/012,845, 10/008,964, 10/013,046, 10/011,450, 10/008,457, and 10/008,871, all filed Nov. 16, 2001 and all of which claim benefit to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/279,087 filed Mar. 27, 2001; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/077,233 filed Feb. 15, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/269,203 filed Feb. 15, 2001; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/097,923 filed Mar. 15, 2002, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/276,151 filed Mar. 15, 2001; U.S. application Ser. No. 10/034,871 filed Dec. 21, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/257,816 filed Dec. 21, 2000; U.S. application Ser. No. 09/827,643 filed Apr. 6, 2001, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/257,869 filed Dec. 21, 2000, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/195,264 filed Apr. 7, 2000.
a driver configured for removably coupling with a handle of a medical catheter instrument, and for interfacing with a control element that is externally movably coupled to the catheter handle to thereby move the control element relative to the handle to mechanically manipulate a distal end of the catheter instrument in response to user control signals generated by user actuation of the user input device.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the user input device comprises one or more of a joystick, wheel, or dial.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the catheter instrument comprises one or more sensing elements.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the catheter instrument comprises one or more energy transmitting elements.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the control element is rotatably coupled to the catheter handle, and wherein the instrument driver includes a drive mechanism configured to rotate the control element relative to the catheter handle in response to the user control signals.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein movement of the control element relative to the handle causes a corresponding movement of one or more control wires extending through the catheter instrument to thereby cause flexure of the distal end.
7. The system of claim 6, wherein the flexure is bi-directional in a single plane.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the driver is further configured for axially translating the catheter instrument in response to user control signals generated by user actuation of the user input device.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the driver is further configured for rotating the catheter instrument in response to user control signals generated by user actuation of the user input device.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the control element is configured for being manually manipulated by a user.
wherein the driver is configured for both axially translating and rotating the catheter instrument in response to user control signals generated by user actuation of the user input device.
12. The system of claim 11, wherein the catheter handle has first and second control elements, and wherein the driver comprises first and second drive mechanisms configured for engaging and moving the respective first and second control elements.
13. The system of claim 11, wherein the first and second control elements are configured for being manually manipulated by a user to mechanically manipulate the distal end of the catheter instrument.
14. The system of claim 11, wherein the user input device comprises one or more of a joystick, wheel, or dial.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the distal end of the catheter instrument comprises one or more electrophysiology elements.
an automated driver removably coupled to a handle of the catheter instrument and configured for axially translating the elongated catheter body and for interfacing with a control element that is externally movably coupled to the catheter handle to thereby move the control element relative to the handle and cause flexing of the distal end of the elongated body in response to the control signals generated by the controller.
17. The medical system of claim 16, wherein the driver is further configured for rotating the elongated body about a longitudinal axis in response to control signals generated by the electrical controller.
18. The medical system of claim 16, wherein the driver is configured for bi-directionally flexing the distal end of the elongate body in a single plane.
19. The medical system of claim 16, wherein the driver is configured for flexing the distal end of the elongated body in orthogonal planes.
20. The medical system of claim 16, wherein the driver includes a first drive mechanism configured for axially translating the elongated body, a second drive mechanism configured for flexing the distal end of the elongated body.
21. The medical system of claim 20, the driver further including a third drive mechanism for rotating the elongated body about a longitudinal axis.
22. The system of claim 1, wherein the control element is configured for touch by a user.

References: Application No. 60
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