Parameter-based navigation by a lumen traveling device

US9408530B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Gearbox, Inc.

Inventors

• Bran Ferren · Beverly Hills, US
• W. Daniel Hillis · Calabasas, US
• Roderick A. Hyde · Redmond, US
• Muriel Y. Ishikawa · Livermore, US
• Edward K.Y. Jung · Bellevue, US
• Eric C. Leuthardt · Chesterfield, US
• Nathan P. Myhrvold · Bellevue, US
• Thomas J. Nugent, Jr. · Bellevue, US
• Elizabeth A. Sweeney · Seattle, US
• Clarence T. Tegreene · Bellevue, US
• Lowell L. Wood, JR. · Bellevue, US
• Victoria Y.H. Wood · Livermore, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Aug 5, 2011
• Grant date: Aug 9, 2016
• Expiry date: Aug 5, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61N7/00
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Methods of controlling the operation of a device traveling in a body tube tree, including sensing parameters from possible directions of travel and selecting the direction of travel based on the sensed parameters, implemented with a control system located partially or fully on the lumen traveling device. Various actions can be performed by the device for, e.g., medical or therapeutic purposes. Machine-readable media including instructions for performing the methods are also described.