Endoscopic translumenal articulatable steerable overtube

1. An apparatus, comprising:

an elongate hollow metal body extending along a longitudinal axis, the hollow body defining a central opening and having a predetermined wall thickness,

a pattern of laser cut slits formed into the body, the slits defining a plurality of articulatable elements, wherein the plurality of articulatable elements enable active articulation of the body in a first plane and passive deflection in planes orthogonal to the first plane, wherein the pattern of slits comprises:

at least one aperture;

an S-shaped slit; and

a spiral slit; and

a plurality of rings disposed along an outer portion of the body along the longitudinal length, the plurality of rings are configured to receive a pull cable therethrough and a distal end of the pull cable is fixedly attached to a distal ring, wherein the pull cable is to articulate the body relative to the longitudinal axis when tension is applied to the pull cable.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the pattern of slits is positioned along the longitudinal axis in a predetermined arrangement.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the spiral slit is positioned between the aperture and the S-shaped slit.

4. The apparatus of claim 3 , wherein an arrangement of the spiral slit positioned between the aperture and the S-shaped slit is repeated along the longitudinal axis of the body.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one aperture is about 1 mm wide and each of the at least one apertures are spaced apart by about 4 mm.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the S-shaped slit begins on a first side of the body and wraps around to a second side of the body.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the S-shaped slit comprises:

a first portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;

a second portion that forms an angle θ with the longitudinal axis;

a third portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;

a fourth portion that forms an angle θ with the longitudinal axis; and

a fifth portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

8. The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein:

the first portion has a length of about 6 mm;

the second portion forms an angle θ between about 100 and about 110 degrees with the longitudinal axis and has a length of about 6 mm;

the third portion and has a length of about 10 mm;

the fourth portion has a length of about 6 mm; and

the fifth portion has a length of about 6 mm.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each revolution of the spiral slit is formed around one revolution of the body, wherein each revolution of the spiral slit has a predetermined overlap with a subsequent revolution of the spiral slit, and wherein each revolution of the spiral slit has a predetermined pitch.

10. The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the overlap is about 1.5 mm and the pitch is about 1.25 mm.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the spiral slit is formed as an interrupted spiral cut pattern defined by a pitch “p,” a depth of interruption “x,” and a distance between interruptions “y”.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein: the pitch “p” is about 1.5 mm; the depth of interruption “x” is about 16 mm; and the distance between interruptions “y” is about 1.5 mm.

13. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the spiral slit is formed as a cut pattern defined by a pitch “p.”

14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein the pitch “p” is about 1.5 mm.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a portion of the slits are formed on an outer surface of the body without entirely penetrating the wall thickness.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the wall thickness of the body is in the range of about 0.25 mm to about 1 mm.

17. An apparatus, comprising:

a steerable tube;

a first layer of flexible material disposed on an inner portion of the steerable tube; and

a second layer of flexible material disposed on an outer portion of the steerable tube;

an elongate hollow metal body extending along a longitudinal axis, the hollow body defining a central opening and having a predetermined wall thickness;

a pattern of laser cut slits formed into the body, the slits defining a plurality of articulatable elements, wherein the plurality of articulatable elements enable active articulation of the body in a first plane and passive deflection in planes orthogonal to the first plane; and

wherein the pattern of slits comprises:

an aperture;

an S-shaped slit; and

a spiral slit; and

a plurality of rings disposed along an outer portion of the body along the longitudinal length, the plurality of rings are configured to receive a pull cable therethrough and a distal end of the pull cable is fixedly attached to a distal ring, wherein the pull cable is to articulate the body relative to the longitudinal axis when tension is applied to the pull cable.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the pattern of slits is positioned along the longitudinal axis in a predetermined arrangement.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the spiral slit is positioned between the aperture and the S-shaped slit.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein an arrangement of the spiral slit positioned between the aperture and the S-shaped slit is repeated along the longitudinal axis of the body.

21. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the S-shaped slit begins on a first side of the body and wraps around to a second side of the body.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the S-shaped slit comprises:

a first portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;

a second portion that forms an angle θ with the longitudinal axis;

a third portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis;

a fourth portion that forms an angle θ with the longitudinal axis; and

a fifth portion that is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis.

23. The steerable apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the spiral slit makes one revolution around the body with a predetermined overlap and pitch.

24. The steerable apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the spiral slit is formed as an interrupted spiral cut pattern defined by a pitch “p,” a depth of interruption “x,” and a distance between interruptions “y.”

25. The steerable apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the spiral slit is formed as a cut pattern defined by a pitch “p.”

26. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein a portion of the slits are formed on an outer surface of the body without entirely penetrating the wall thickness.

27. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the wall thickness of the body is in the range of about 0.25 mm to about 1 mm.

28. An apparatus, comprising:

an elongate hollow metal body extending along a longitudinal axis, the hollow body defining a central opening and having a predetermined wall thickness;

a pattern of laser cut slits formed into the body, the slits defining a plurality of articulatable elements, wherein the plurality of articulatable elements enable active articulation of the body in a first plane and passive deflection in planes orthogonal to the first plane;

wherein the pattern of slits comprises:

an aperture;

an S-shaped slit; and

a spiral slit; and

at least one embedded lumen formed in the body extending along the longitudinal axis, the embedded lumen is configured to receive a pull cable therethrough; and

a plurality of rings disposed along an outer portion of the body along the longitudinal length, the plurality of rings are configured to receive the pull cable therethrough and a distal end of the pull cable is fixedly attached to a distal ring, wherein the pull cable is to articulate the body relative to the longitudinal axis when tension is applied to the pull cable.

29. The apparatus of claim 28 , comprising:

a plurality of embedded lumen formed in the body extending along the longitudinal axis, the plurality of embedded lumen is configured to receive a plurality of pull cables therethrough.