A hollow probe enabling insertion and accommodation of endoscopic and other instruments advancing within a lumen includes a central valve unit featuring a central bore and at least one valve for controlling the introduction and withdrawal of fluid into the central bore. A sliding tubular sheath is movably disposed inside the central valve unit. An impermeable flexible sleeve is sealingly anchored to the central valve unit and folds over to cover both the inside and outside of the sheath to sealingly envelop the sheath and contain the fluid, together with the valve unit, while allowing sliding of the sleeve-covered-sheath. An endoscope adapter is mountable to the proximal end of the sleeve-covered-sheath, for allowing insertion of the endoscope through the adapter into the sleeve-covered-sheath, includes at least one gasket for sealing at least one gap between the endoscope and the sleeve-covered-sheath for withholding fluids from escaping.

A medical manipulator system that includes a joint, a first sensor that detects an amount of rotational motion of the joint, an actuator that drives the joint via a wire, a second sensor that detects an amount of operation of the actuator based on a rotation angle of the actuator, an input device, and a controller. The controller generates a control signal based on: an operation mode in which the control signal is generated by a transfer function that receives an input target value of the rotation angle of the joint and the amount of operation of the actuator, and a calibration mode in which the transfer function is adjusted based on comparing to a predetermined threshold value the amount of rotational motion of the joint and the amount of operation of the actuator. The controller then transmits the generated control signal to the actuator to drive the joint.

A deployable and flexible tooltip camera is provided for integration within a shaft of an endoscopic tool. The tooltip camera includes a camera mounted to a distal tip of a curved tube which is capable of rotational and translational movement to provide a wide field of view of a tooltip of the endoscopic tool during an endoscopic procedure. The tube retains its curved shape when in use to provide a unique perspective view of the tooltip, but can then be withdrawn into a shaft of the endoscopic tool such that the entire tooltip camera and tube are retained within the shaft of the endoscopic tool and can pass through a cannula. The curved tube may be formed of a super-elastic memory alloy like Nitinol and pre-shaped into an s-curve using a two-step heat treatment process to attain the necessary curvature, and further laser-patterned with holes to attain the necessary flexibility.

An endoscope apparatus having: an insertion portion extending along a longitudinal axis; a roller driven by a drive force to rotate around the longitudinal axis; and a cover member covering the roller, wherein the cover member has: a base layer having: an outer surface direction side; and an inner surface direction side arranged to contact the roller, wherein portions of the base layer covering the roller as the roller rotates around the longitudinal axis of the insertion portion elastically elongate in an outer surface direction of the insertion portion, and wherein the base layer has a secondary material being a first color at a first temperature range and a second color at a second temperature range; and an external coating layer formed on at least one of the outer surface direction side and the inner surface direction side of the base layer.

A visualization system including multiple light sources, an image sensor configured to detect imaging data from the multiple light sources, and a control circuit is disclosed. At least one of the light sources is configured to emit a pattern of structured light. The control circuit is configured to receive the imaging data from the image sensor, generate a three-dimensional digital representation of the anatomical structure from the pattern of structured light detected by the imaging data, obtain metadata from the imaging data, overlay the metadata on the three-dimensional digital representation, receive updated imaging data from the image sensor, and generate an updated three-dimensional digital representation of the anatomical structure based on the updated imaging data. The visualization system can be communicatively coupled to a situational awareness module configured to determine a surgical scenario based on input signals from multiple surgical devices.

In accordance with one embodiment, an automated probe system includes a probe configured to be reversibly inserted into a live body part, a robotic arm attached to the probe and configured to manipulate the probe, a first sensor configured to track movement of the probe during an insertion and a reinsertion of the probe in the live body part, a second sensor configured to track movement of the live body part, and a controller configured to calculate an insertion path of the probe in the live body part based on the tracked movement of the probe during the insertion, and calculate a reinsertion path of the probe based on the calculated insertion path while compensating for the tracked movement of the live body part, and send control commands to the robotic arm to reinsert the probe in the live body part according to the calculated reinsertion path.

A system for performing a minimally invasive procedure comprises a flexible catheter with a lumen extending therethrough. The system also comprises an elongate instrument sized for passage through the lumen and an optical coherence tomographic sensor coupled to the elongate instrument. The system also comprises a control system that includes one or more processors. The control system is configured to receive sensor data from the optical coherence tomographic sensor, profile a tissue based on the received sensor data, generate an output signal based on the profiled tissue, and based on receipt of the output signal, generate a command to indicate or affect movement of the elongate instrument.

A system for performing a surgical procedure includes a controller including a memory and a processor, the memory storing instructions, which when executed by the processor cause the processor to receive an image captured by a camera, generate a segmented image by applying a first threshold value to the image captured by the camera, identify a lumen within the segmented image, determine a centroid of the lumen within the segmented image, and align a portion of a surgical device operably coupled to the controller with the centroid of the lumen.

Embodiments for crossing an occlusion by controlling a guide with the aid of optical coherence tomography (OCT) data are described. Embodiments include transmitting one or more beams of radiation via one or more waveguides on a flexible substrate within a guide wire. One or more beams of scattered or reflected radiation may be received from a sample via one or more waveguides. Depth-resolved optical data of the sample may be generated based on the received beams of scattered or reflected radiation. The depth-resolved data may be used for determining at least one of a distance between the guide wire and a wall of the artery and a distance between the guide wire and an occlusion within the artery. A position of the guide wire within the artery may then be controlled based on the determined distance or distances.

A robotic surgery system includes: (1) a positioning stage and (2) at least one manipulator arm mounted to the positioning stage, wherein the manipulator arm includes a track and a tool carriage moveably mounted to the track, and the tool carriage includes a base and a pair of light emitting devices mounted to the base.