Patent ID: 7758591

Claim:
A medical instrument comprising: a flexible sleeve having a proximal end portion and a distal end portion; a flexible shaft formed of at least a first shaft segment and a second shaft segment, the shaft at least partially received in the sleeve and including a proximal end portion and a distal end portion, and an end effector located at the distal end portion; a handle assembly located at the proximal end portion of the shaft, the handle assembly capable of controlling at least a linear movement of the shaft relative to the sleeve; a torque transmitter fixed to the sleeve and coupled to the shaft and configured to cause rotational movement of the shaft upon a linear movement of the shaft relative to the sleeve; a pivot connector located proximal of the torque transmitter and configured to couple the first and second shaft segments so as to allow unrestricted relative rotational movement between the first and second shaft segments; and a clutch assembly configured to restrict controlled rotational movement of a portion of the shaft to a single rotational direction, wherein the shaft is configured to rotate at least 180 degrees relative to the torque transmitter, wherein the sleeve and the shaft are configured to be inserted into a natural body orifice and traverse and conform to a tortuous body tract, wherein the pivot connector receives a distal end portion of the first shaft segment and a proximal end portion of the second shaft segment, each shaft segment end portion including an end element having a cross-sectional size greater than other portions of the shaft.