Movable Elongated Structure With Traction-Wire Distal Bending
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional long medical instruments, such as catheters and endoscopes, face complexity in bending and maneuvering their distal ends due to intricate structures, limiting their ability to navigate branching pathways efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A movable elongated structure with a flexible, tubular design featuring a plurality of tubular bodies and a traction body system, allowing for simple and precise bending and deformation of the distal end by towing traction bodies along a longitudinal direction, facilitated by a wiring aid and wire lumens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional endoscope uses a bending portion with four-directional control to change distal end direction, then the instrument can navigate complex pathways, but the structure becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument shaft is divided into multiple tubular bodies (first tubular body, second tubular body, third tubular body) that can be independently controlled. Each tubular body can be bent in the longitudinal direction, providing multi-directional control capability without requiring a complex four-directional bending mechanism at a single location.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of controlling bending in four directions (up, down, left, right) at one bending portion, the invention enables bending control in the longitudinal direction across multiple segments along the length of the instrument. This transforms the control dimension from radial (four directions at one point) to longitudinal (multiple points along the shaft), achieving similar navigational capability with a different mechanical approach.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the distal end of a long medical instrument is bent to insert into a branch, then the instrument can access branching pathways, but the structure becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument shaft is segmented into multiple independently controllable tubular bodies. By selectively bending individual tubular bodies in the longitudinal direction, the distal end can be steered into branching pathways without requiring a complex distal end structure with multiple bending mechanisms concentrated at one location.
Solution Approach 2:
The tubular bodies are designed to be bendable in the longitudinal direction, providing dynamic control over the instrument's shape. This allows the distal end to adaptively navigate branching pathways by selectively activating bending in specific tubular bodies, achieving versatility without structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
Eight traction wires are fastened to fixed recesses of a distal end side cap by enlarged diameter portions, wherein in the distal end side flexible tube, the eight traction wires are arranged in the distal end side upper lumen set in the upward direction HU among the four directions (HU, HD, WR, WL) of the cross section in which lumen sets are provided, and wherein in the base end side flexible tube, the eight traction wires are arranged in the base end side wire lumens which are closer to the cross-sectional center in the upward direction HU than the distal end side upper lumen set and have a wider interval between the arranged traction wires. By towing the traction wires toward the base end side flexible tube, the distal end side flexible tube may be bent and deformed in a desired direction relative to the base end side flexible tube.