Endoscopic illumination sleeve
Inventors
Watkiss, Kent • Bormet, Jonathan • Duckett, III, George E.
Assignees
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Publication Number
US-12616356-B2
Publication Date
2026-05-05
Expiration Date
Abstract
An endoscopic illumination sleeve includes a housing holding a plurality of LED light sources (LEDs) for providing light to respective light fibers, the housing forming a chamber sized for encircling an endoscope shaft. A flexible sleeve is coupled to the housing and including the light fibers, the flexible sleeve adapted to be placed around the endoscope shaft such that a distal end of the sleeve is positioned toward the distal end of the endoscope shaft and the light fibers extend from the housing to the distal end to illuminate a scene. The flexible sleeve and housing are adapted to be secured around the endoscope in a working position for a medical procedure, and to be removable therefrom. A kit may include multiple sleeves providing different lighting capabilities.
Core Innovation
The invention is an endoscopic illumination sleeve with a housing that holds multiple LED light sources and forms a chamber sized to encircle an endoscope shaft. A flexible sleeve coupled to the housing carries light fibers to its distal end to illuminate a scene. The sleeve and housing are secured around the endoscope in a working position for a medical procedure and are removable.
The disclosed configurations include visible, fluorescence, or multispectral illumination, and faceplates with filters, lenses, or an opening for working-channel access. The partial content also describes disposable or protective construction and wireless control features. The background section is not included in the provided text, so the problem being solved is not explicitly described in patent.
Claims Coverage
The two independent claims are claims 1 and 20. Both cover a removable endoscopic illumination sleeve with a housing holding LEDs and a flexible, fiber-carrying sleeve; they differ in the faceplate features they recite.
Removable illumination sleeve with keyed working-channel faceplate
Claim 1 recites a housing holding multiple LED light sources for providing light to respective light fibers, with a chamber sized to encircle an endoscope shaft. A flexible sleeve carries the fibers from the housing to the distal end to illuminate a scene, is adapted to be secured around the endoscope for a medical procedure and removed, and terminates in a keyed faceplate with an opening for access to the endoscope working channel.
Removable illumination sleeve with region-filtering faceplate
Claim 20 recites a housing holding multiple LED light sources for providing light to respective light fibers, with a chamber sized to encircle an endoscope shaft. A removable flexible sleeve carries the fibers to its distal end to illuminate a scene and terminates in a keyed faceplate that includes multiple filter elements to filter respective regions of the faceplate.
The independent claims cover the removable LED-and-fiber illumination sleeve and its keyed faceplate. Claim 1 specifies working-channel access, while claim 20 specifies multiple filter elements for respective faceplate regions.
Stated Advantages
Disposable or protective construction may improve sterility.
Documented Applications
Illumination of a scene during a medical procedure using a sleeve placed around an endoscope shaft.
Visible, fluorescence, or multispectral illumination for endoscopic imaging.
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