Patent ID: 7957790

Claim:
A catheter for inserting into a hollow organ, comprising a plurality of flexural elements, wherein the flexural elements are: arranged inside the catheter; flexible in a non-pressurized state; adapted to stiffen upon an internal pressure applied to the flexural element by the filling medium; and adapted to an assumed predetermined curved shape as a result of the applied internal pressure to provide a flexibility of the catheter and reduce a risk of patient injury when the catheter is advanced in the hollow organ, wherein the plurality of flexural elements each of which are adapted to be selectively filled with the filling medium, and wherein the flexural elements are arranged over a length of the catheter in segments one after the other at the center of the catheter relative to a longitudinal axis of the catheter to achieve a flexural curve of the catheter at a plurality of different longitudinal locations by activating the flexural elements of one of the segments, wherein each of the flexural elements is shaped as a tube that is made of a non-elastic plastic material and has a shorter wall length on one side and a longer wall length on an opposite side before filling with the filling medium and the curved shape is obtained as a result of different wall lengths of the each of the flexural elements after filling with the filling medium.