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:
Sep. 15, 2020
Filed:
Jun. 28, 2019
Intuitive Surgical Operations, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
David Miller, Boulder, CO (US);
Vahid Saadat, Atherton, CA (US);
Zachary J. Malchano, San Francisco, CA (US);
Ruey-Feng Peh, Singapore, SG;
Aseem K. Thakur, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Christopher A. Rothe, San Mateo, CA (US);
Edmund Tam, Mountain View, CA (US);
INTUITIVE SURGICAL OPERATIONS, INC., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A method of inhibiting flow of a purging fluid from a device comprises positioning an imaging hood in proximity to a tissue region to be visualized. The imaging hood includes a distal membrane which defines a main aperture. The imaging hood and the distal membrane define an open area. The method also comprises introducing the purging fluid into a proximal portion of the open area. The proximal portion is bounded by a proximal membrane including a plurality of apertures. The method also comprises pressurizing the proximal membrane with the purging fluid to a partially extended state in which the purging fluid flows through the plurality of apertures and through the main aperture. The method also comprises pressurizing the proximal membrane with the purging fluid to a blocking extended state in which the proximal membrane obstructs the main aperture to block the flow of the purging fluid through the main aperture.