Granted Patent B2

US 12,588,956 · App. 18/199,218 · Granted Mar 31, 2026

Inventors: Avnish Sachar (Cambridge, MA); Anne Gu (Brighton, MA); Christopher J. Nycz (Holden, MA); Farid Tavakkolmoghaddam (Worcester, MA); Hannah R. Baez (Ann Arbor, MI); Aditya Ambani (Brighton, MA); Paris Marks Saint-Preux (Lowell, MA); James Weldon (Newton, MA)

Assignees: BOSTON SCIENTIFIC SCIMED, INC.; WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE

A61B34/30A61B17/00A61B2017/003

Abstract

Claims (49)

1 . A steerable medical device, comprising:

an endoscope including a handle and an elongate shaft extending distally from the handle to a distal tip, wherein the endoscope includes an umbilicus attached to and extending from the handle, the umbilicus configured to provide electronic communication between the endoscope and a workstation; and

a motor control assembly including a motor control housing configured to detachably interface with the handle, wherein the umbilicus remains attached to the handle when the motor control housing is detached from the handle;

wherein the motor control assembly includes:

a first drive assembly disposed within the motor control housing;

a second drive assembly disposed within the motor control housing;

an input device; and

a controller operably coupled with the first drive assembly, the second drive assembly and the input device, the controller configured to:

control operation of the first drive assembly and/or the second drive assembly in order to move the distal tip;

receive one or more user inputs from a user via the input device; and

modify operation of the first drive assembly and/or the second drive assembly in accordance with the received one or more inputs.

2 . The steerable medical device of claim 1 , wherein:

the first drive assembly comprises a first motor and a first gear assembly operably coupled with the first motor; and

the second drive assembly comprises a second motor and a second gear assembly operably coupled with the second motor.

3 . The steerable medical device of claim 2 , further comprising:

a first drive axle configured to engage the first gear assembly with a first deflection mechanism disposed within the handle, the first deflection mechanism being configured to deflect the distal tip in a first plane; and

a second drive axle configured to engage the second gear assembly with a second deflection mechanism disposed within the handle, the second deflection mechanism being configured to deflect the distal tip in a second plane different from the first plane.

4 . The steerable medical device of claim 3 , wherein the one or more user inputs include a command to lock out movement in either the first plane or the second plane such that:

when the command locks out movement in the first plane, the controller is configured to prevent the first drive assembly from moving the first deflection mechanism while the second drive assembly is permitted to move the second deflection mechanism; and

when the command locks out movement in the second plane, the controller is configured to prevent the second drive assembly from moving the second deflection mechanism while the first drive assembly is permitted to move the first deflection mechanism.

5 . The steerable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user inputs include a command to move the distal tip along a user-defined trajectory.

6 . The steerable medical device of claim 5 , wherein the user input device is configured to allow the user to input the user-defined trajectory.

7 . The steerable medical device of claim 5 , wherein the controller is further configured to operate the first drive assembly and/or the second drive assembly in order to move the distal tip along the user-defined trajectory.

8 . The steerable medical device of claim 7 , wherein the controller is further configured to implement a learning model in which the controller learns how encoder values for each of the first drive assembly and the second drive assembly relate to corresponding movement of the distal tip.

9 . The steerable medical device of claim 8 , wherein the controller is further configured to, when moving the first drive assembly and/or the second drive assembly, to minimize a difference between a desired encoder value and a current encoder value.

10 . The steerable medical device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more user inputs include a command to move the distal tip to a user-defined target.

11 . The steerable medical device of claim 10 , wherein the user input device is configured to allow the user to input the user-defined target.

12 . The steerable medical device of claim 10 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

determine a trajectory between a current position of the distal tip and a position defined by the user-defined target; and

operate the first drive assembly and/or the second drive assembly in order to move the distal tip along the determined trajectory.

13 . A steerable medical device, comprising:

an endoscope including a handle and an elongate shaft extending distally from the handle to a distal tip, wherein the endoscope includes an umbilicus attached to and extending from the handle, the umbilicus configured to provide electronic communication between the endoscope and a workstation; and

a motor control assembly including a motor control housing configured to detachably couple with the handle, wherein the umbilicus remains attached to the handle when the motor control housing is detached from the handle;

wherein the motor control assembly includes:

a first drive motor disposed within the motor control housing and configured to cause the distal tip to deflect within a first plane;

a second drive motor disposed within the motor control housing and configured to cause the distal tip to deflect within a second plane different from the first plane;

an input device; and

a controller operably coupled with the first drive motor, the second drive motor and the input device, the controller configured to:

receive instructions to move the distal tip along a trajectory;

implement a learning model that indicates how encoder values for each of the first motor and the second motor correspond to movement of the distal tip; and

control operation of the first drive motor and/or the second drive motor in order to move the distal tip along the trajectory while minimizing a difference between a desired encoder value and a current encoder value.

14 . The steerable medical device of claim 13 , wherein the trajectory comprises a user-defined trajectory inputted to the controller.

15 . The steerable medical device of claim 14 , wherein the input device is configured to allow the user to input the user-defined trajectory.

16 . The steerable medical device of claim 13 , wherein the trajectory comprises a controller-determined trajectory that is based upon a current position of the distal tip and a desired target location of the distal tip.

17 . The steerable medical device of claim 16 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine whether the target location of the distal tip is reachable by the distal tip, given a current location of the steerable medical device.

18 . The steerable medical device of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to:

when the target location of the distal tip is reachable given the current location of the steerable medical device, the controller automatically calculates the controller-determined trajectory; and

when the target location of the distal tip is not reachable given the current location of the steerable medical device, the controller provides instructions to the user to move the steerable medical device to a new location that will facilitate reaching the target location of the distal tip.

19 . The steerable medical device of claim 17 , wherein the controller is further configured to estimate a depth of the target location.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (78)