BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to articulating mechanisms and applications thereof, including the remote steering, guidance and/or manipulation of instruments and tools.

The ability to easily remotely steer, guide and/or manipulate instruments and tools is of interest in a wide variety of industries and applications, in particular where it is desired to navigate an instrument or tool into a workspace that is not easy to manually navigate by hand or that might otherwise present a risk or danger. These can include situations where the targeted site for the application of a tool or instrument is difficult to access, e.g. certain surgical procedures, or the manufacture or repair of machinery, or even commercial and household uses, where manual access to a targeted site is restricted or otherwise. Other situations can include e.g industrial applications where the work environment is dangerous to the user, for example, workspaces exposed to dangerous chemicals. Still other situations can include e.g. law enforcement or military applications where the user may be at risk, such as deployment of a tool or instrument into a dangerous or hostile location.

Using surgical procedures as an illustrative example, procedures such as endoscopy and laparoscopy typically employ instruments that are steered within or towards a target organ or tissue from a position outside the body. Examples of endoscopic procedures include sigmoidoscopy, colonoscopy, esophagogastroduodenoscopy, and bronchoscopy. Traditionally, the insertion tube of an endoscope is advanced by pushing it forward, and retracted by pulling it back. The tip of the tube may be directed by twisting and general up/down and left/right movements. Oftentimes, this limited range of motion makes it difficult to negotiate acute angles (e.g., in the rectosigmoid colon), creating patient discomfort and increasing the risk of trauma to surrounding tissues. Laparoscopy involves the placement of trocar ports according to anatomical landmarks. The number of ports usually varies with the intended procedure and number of instruments required to obtain satisfactory tissue mobilization and exposure of the operative field. Although there are many benefits of laparoscopic surgery, e.g., less postoperative pain, early mobilization, and decreased adhesion formation, it is often difficult to achieve optimal refraction of organs and maneuverability of conventional instruments through laparoscopic ports. In some cases, these deficiencies may lead to increased operative time or imprecise placement of components such as staples and sutures. Steerable catheters are also well known for both diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Similar to endoscopes, such catheters include tips that can be directed in generally limited ranges of motion to navigate a patient's vasculature.

There have been many attempts to design endoscopes and catheters with improved steerability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,557,780 to Sato; U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,381 to Ailinger et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,146 to Alotta et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,270,453 to Sakai describe endoscopic instruments with one or more flexible portions that may be bent by actuation of a single set of wires. The wires are actuated from the proximal end of the instrument by rotating pinions (Sato), manipulating knobs (Ailinger et al.), a steerable arm (Alotta et al.), or by a pulley mechanism (Sato). U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,147 to Boury et al. discloses a steerable catheter having four wires that run within the catheter wall. Each wire terminates at a different part of the catheter. The proximal end of the wires extend loosely from the catheter so that the physician may pull them. The physician is able to shape and thereby steer the catheter by selectively placing the wires under tension.

Although each of the devices described above are remotely steerable, their range of motion is generally limited. The steering mechanisms may also be laborious to use, such as in the catheter of Boury et al. where each wire must be separately pulled to shape the catheter. Further, in the case of e.g. endoscopes and steerable catheters that use knob and pulley mechanisms, it requires a significant amount of training to become proficient in maneuvering the device through a patient's anatomy.

Consequently, a device with enhanced remote maneuverability to controllably navigate complex geometries may allow more efficient and precise advancement and deployment of instruments and tools. It would also be advantageous for such a device to provide a more intuitive and facile user interface to achieve such enhanced maneuverability. Such a device would have widespread application in guiding, steering and/or manipulating instruments and tools across numerous industries. Such a device would also of itself have entertainment, recreation and educational value.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides articulating mechanisms and components thereof useful for a variety of purposes including but not limited to the remote manipulation of instruments and tools. Such instruments and tools can include surgical or diagnostic instruments or tools, including but not limited to endoscopes, light sources, catheters, Doppler flow meters, microphones, probes, retractors, dissectors, staplers, clamps, graspers, scissors or cutters, ablation or cauterizing elements, and the like. Other instruments or tools in nonsurgical applications include but are not limited to graspers, drivers, power tools, welders, magnets, optical lenses and viewers, light sources, electrical tools, audio/visual tools, lasers, monitors, and the like. Depending on the application, it is contemplated that the articulating mechanisms and components of the present invention can be readily scaled to accommodate the incorporation of or adaptation to numerous instruments and tools. The articulating mechanism may be used to steer these instruments or tools to a desired target site, and can further be employed to actuate or facilitate actuation of such instruments and tools.

In one variation of the invention, an articulating mechanism is provided that includes multiple pairs of flexible segments, with each flexible segment of each pair being maintained in a spaced apart relationship relative to the other flexible segment of the pair. The flexible segments comprise a unit of at least one link and at least one flexible hinge, with adjacent flexible segments in the mechanism joined by flexible hinges. The mechanism further includes at least one set of cables connecting the flexible segments of at least one discrete pair to one another, such that movement of one flexible segment of the connected pair causes corresponding relative movement of the other flexible segment of the pair. In further variations, additional cable sets are provided that connect the flexible segments of additional discrete pairs. The flexible segments can form proximal and distal ends of the mechanism where movement of the proximal end of the articulating mechanism results in corresponding relative movement of the distal end. For movement in two dimensions, the flexible hinges are aligned in parallel. For movement in three dimensions, at least one flexible hinge of the mechanism is oriented at an acute angle to at least one other flexible hinge of the mechanism. For maximum range of motion in three dimensions, at least one flexible hinge is oriented orthogonal to at least one other flexible hinge.

In another variation of the invention, flexible members for use in articulating mechanisms are provided. The flexible members will include one or more flexible segments joined together. The flexible members can be formed with any number of flexible segments and can further be provided with reciprocal means for axially connecting the members together in lengthwise fashion. The flexible members can be used to form an articulating mechanism according to the present invention, or alternatively, can be incorporated into other mechanisms and devices. In one variation, flexible member includes flexible hinges are oriented in parallel. In another variation, the flexible members include at least one flexible hinge that is oriented at an acute angle to at least one other flexible hinge. In a further variation, at least one flexible hinge is oriented orthogonal to at least one other flexible hinge.

In further variations of the invention, flexible segments are provided that can form or be incorporated into flexible members or articulating mechanisms according to the invention. The flexible segments comprise a unit of at least one link and at least one flexible hinge. In certain variations, these flexible segments are designed with flexible hinges that bend or flex at particular predetermined positions, the locations of which will have particular effects on cables running through the segments. In particular, these predetermined positions will have an impact on the relative tautness of cables passing through the flexible segments. This impact, also referred to as cable pull bias, can be negative, neutral or positive. In one aspect, the predetermined flex position provides for a negative cable pull bias where one or more cables passing through adjacent flexible segments will develop slack when the mechanism is bent or articulated. In another aspect, the predetermined flex position provides a neutral cable pull bias, where cable slack is reduced or eliminated when the mechanism is bent or articulated. In yet another aspect, the predetermined flex position provides a positive cable pull bias where one or more cables associated with the flexible segment will have increased tension when the mechanism is bent or articulated. Each of these configurations may have advantages depending on the particular application at hand.

In further aspects of the invention, a tool or instrument may be attached to and extend from the distal end of the articulating mechanisms, or the articulating mechanisms may be otherwise incorporated into such instruments or tools. In the case of surgical applications, examples of surgical or diagnostic tools include, but are not limited to, endoscopes, light sources, catheters, Doppler flow meters, microphones, probes, retractors, dissectors, staplers, clamps, graspers, scissors or cutters, and ablation or cauterizing elements. For other applications, numerous tools or instruments are likewise contemplated, including without limitation, e.g., graspers, drivers, power tools, welders, magnets, optical lenses and viewers, electrical tools, audio/visual tools, lasers, light sources, monitors, and the like. The types of tools or instruments, methods and locations of attachment, and applications and uses include, but are not limited to, those described in pending and commonly owned U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10/444,769 and 10/928,479, incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

