Patent ID: 7740578

Claim:
A direct reading endoscopic measuring instrument in an endoscopic system, the endoscopic system operable to view an internal anatomical structure, the system including an endoscope with a plurality of lumen and a distal end inserted into an anatomical structure, an endoscopic camera, the camera operable to view the interior of the anatomical structure, the direct reading endoscopic measuring instrument comprising: an actuator; an actuator wire; a selectively foldable distal reticule, the actuator wire connecting the actuator to the distal reticule, the actuator operable to selectively fold and unfold the distal reticule via the actuator wire, the reticule further comprising four body segments including an upper ruler, a lower ruler, an upper backing and a lower backing, the upper backing being parallel with the upper ruler and the lower backing being parallel with the lower ruler when the reticule is in a folded state, the upper backing being parallel with the lower backing and the upper ruler being parallel with the lower ruler when the reticule is in an unfolded state wherein each of the four body segments has a semicircular cross section; the distal reticule being movable through an endoscopic lumen in the folded state, the reticule being substantially aligned with the axis of the endoscope when in the folded state; and the distal reticule moveable to a position beyond the distal end of the endoscope, the distal reticule manually operable to unfold along an axis perpendicular to the axis of an endoscope when the reticule is in the unfolded state.