Patent ID: 8343040

Claim:
A method for visualizing the interior of a bodily passageway at a remote location, the method comprising the steps of: providing a visualization system for deployment in the bodily passageway, the visualization system comprising: a tube; visualization apparatus disposed within the lumen of the tube; and a deformable helical thread disposed on the exterior surface of the tube, the deformable helical thread having a sufficient structural integrity, and a sufficient surface profile, such that when the tube is disposed in the bodily passageway so that the deformable helical thread engages the interior side wall of the bodily passageway, rotation of the tube will induce a relative movement between the tube and the side wall of the bodily passageway; inserting the visualization system into the bodily passageway at a location remote from the site which is to be visualized, with the deformable helical thread being in a reduced profile configuration; transforming the deformable helical thread into an expanded profile configuration; wherein the deformable helical thread is transformed from its reduced profile configuration to its expanded profile configuration by delivery of a fluid to the interior of the deformable helical thread; rotating the tube so as to induce relative movement between the bodily passageway and the tube, whereby to move the visualization apparatus and the site which is to be visualized closer together; and using the visualization apparatus to visualize the interior of the bodily passageway.