Endoscope
USRE37772E1 · kind E1 · reissue
Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Jan 20, 1998 |
| Grant date | Jun 25, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jan 20, 2018 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC —)General
Abstract
An endoscope for insertion into a patient's inner body cavity has a shell with lumens for (1) illuminating a lens and (2) passing light from an imaging (or objective) lens, each lens being disposed on the distal face of the shell. The shell also has a lumen, preferably off-round, for receiving a resilient disposable core. The resilient core has passageways for introducing a pressurized fluid (e.g. air or water) to selective ones of the lenses to clean the lenses. The core may also have another passageway for removing material from the patient's inner body cavity for analysis. This passageway may communicate with two (2) conduits for removing specimens from the body cavity (1) as by a vacuum or (2) as by an instrument. The second conduit may be closed except when the instrument is to be inserted into a patient's inner body cavity. The core may be drawn through the shell lumen to position the core in the lumen. A cleaning member may be attached to the core to clean the shell lumen as the core is drawn through the lumen. Alternatively, a leader applied to the core may be drawn with the core through the shell lumen and then removed from the core. Sealing members attached to the core ma…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.