The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 04, 2020
Filed:
Mar. 13, 2014
Applicant:
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN (US);
Inventors:
Philip J. Swaney, Nashville, TN (US);
Robert J. Webster, III, Nashville, TN (US);
Assignee:
VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY, Nashville, TN (US);
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 17/34 (2006.01); A61B 17/00 (2006.01); A61N 5/10 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
A61B 17/3403 (2013.01); A61B 17/3417 (2013.01); A61B 2017/003 (2013.01); A61B 2017/3454 (2013.01); A61N 5/1007 (2013.01);
Abstract
A steerable surgical needle () includes an elongated needle shaft (), a beveled tip portion (), and a flexural element () that connects the needle shaft () with the tip portion () and permits the tip portion to deflect relative to the needle shaft. A method for steering the surgical needle () through tissue includes the steps of advancing the needle in the body tissue to induce tip flexure which causes the needle to follow a curved trajectory, and rotating the needle about its longitudinal axis in place, without advancement, to remove the tip flexure.