Patent ID: 8840560

Claim:
A hand-operated ultrasound catheter assembly comprising: an elongate flexible shaft having a proximal end and a distal end; an ultrasonic transducer mounted proximate the distal end; a set of steering lines running along the elongate flexible shaft; and a handle coupled to the shaft near the proximal end and adapted to steer, during an ultrasound imaging procedure, the ultrasonic transducer by applying force to actuate one or more of the set of steering lines while being simultaneously held within and manipulated by a single hand of an operator, the handle including: a housing having an elongate shape adapted for hand-held operation of the handle to affect steering of the ultrasonic transducer, the housing extending along a longitudinal axis between a proximal portion and a distal portion, the distal portion receiving the set of steering lines; a first steering actuator for controlling a position of the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the first steering actuator affects repositioning the ultrasonic transducer by repositioning a first control surface, exposed outside of the housing of the handle, of the first steering actuator lengthwise along the longitudinal axis of the housing of the handle by rotating the first steering actuator about a first shaft extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis, a second steering actuator for controlling, via force applied to a steering line of the set of steering lines, the position of the ultrasonic transducer, wherein the second steering actuator affects repositioning the ultrasonic transducer by repositioning a second control surface, exposed outside of the housing of the handle, of the second steering actuator lengthwise along the longitudinal axis of the housing of the handle by rotating the second steering actuator about a second shaft extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis; and an actuator locking mechanism for holding at least the first steering actuator at a current position, wherein the actuator locking mechanism comprises a locking lever extending in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the housing and comprising a set of teeth for engaging a complimentary inter-locking surface on the first steering actuator; wherein the exposed control surfaces of the first steering actuator and the second steering actuator are staggered along a shared surface of the housing of the handle such that a longer edge of the first exposed control surface and a longer edge of the second exposed control surface extend parallel to the longitudinal axis, but are offset with respect to one another.