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:
Jan. 08, 2013
Filed:
May. 09, 2008
Alexander Tung, Mountain View, CA (US);
Günter Niemeyer, Mountain View, CA (US);
David Liang, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Byong-ho Park, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Friedrich B. Prinz, Woodside, CA (US);
Bob S. HU, Stanford, CA (US);
Alexander Tung, Mountain View, CA (US);
Günter Niemeyer, Mountain View, CA (US);
David Liang, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Byong-Ho Park, Cincinnati, OH (US);
Friedrich B. Prinz, Woodside, CA (US);
Bob S. Hu, Stanford, CA (US);
The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University, Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
This invention provides small position sensors for applications where localized sensing in a small volume of space is needed but where measurement of large relative displacement is also necessary. The invention enables a surgeon to accurately position the tip of a catheter during minimally invasive therapy. The current invention further improves the quality of tactile feedback to a physician during catheter-based surgeries with an axial force sensor at the tip of the catheter that allows for the transmission of force information to the physician. One embodiment of this invention is a position sensor for active interventional catheters, where the sensor may be laser-machined shape memory alloy (SMA), and the catheter actuators may be heated SMA or wire-pulleys. Providing position feedback from a catheter during minimally invasive therapy allows for closed-loop control of the catheter tip position under computer-aided guidance and enable force feedback to the physician.