Patent ID: 8388629

Claim:
A medical instrument comprising: a sleeve having a proximal region, a distal region, and an inner surface, at least part of the inner surface of the sleeve including first undulations; a shaft at least partially disposed within the sleeve, the shaft including a proximal region, a distal region, a first shaft segment, a second shaft segment, and an outer surface including second undulations configured to mate with the first undulations such that linear movement of the shaft relative to the sleeve causes rotation of the shaft relative to the sleeve; a pivot connector for substantially restricting relative linear movement between the first and second segments of the shaft while allowing unrestricted relative rotational movement between the first and second segments of the shaft, 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; a handle assembly attached to the proximal region of the shaft and to the proximal region of the sleeve, the handle assembly configured to control the relative movement of the shaft and the sleeve; and an end effector connected to the distal region of the shaft such that rotation of the shaft relative to the sleeve causes rotation of the end effector relative to the sleeve.