Abstract: A system for visualizing catheter irrigation, the system includes a fluid container, a pump, a schlieren imaging assembly and a processor. The fluid container is configured to: (i) contain a first fluid, which is at least partially transparent and has a first temperature, and (ii) receive into the first fluid a catheter having one or more irrigation holes. The pump is configured to inject, through the one or more irrigation holes, a second fluid, which is at least partially transparent and has a second different temperature. The schlieren imaging assembly is configured to acquire schlieren images of turbulence occurring in the first fluid when injecting the second fluid, and the processor is configured to visualize the irrigation using the schlieren images.

Abstract: A cerebrospinal-fluid-pressure-measuring device including a pressure gauge including a hollow cylindrical body for inserting through a skull and having a lower and upper end, and an inner surface, a membrane attached to the lower end and to move under a pressure of cerebrospinal fluid within the skull, and coils including a stationary coil disposed in the cylindrical body and connected to the inner surface so as to remain stationary, and a moving coil disposed in the cylindrical body and connected to the membrane so that the moving coil moves when the membrane moves under the pressure, one of the coils being configured as a transmitting coil and another of the coils being configured as a receiving coil, and a control unit to apply an input signal to the transmitting coil and receive an output signal from the receiving coil, and to generate an indication of the pressure.

Abstract: A surgical instrument and related method includes an instrument body, a guide shaft distally projecting from the instrument body, and a first surgical tool. The guide shaft has a guide sidewall, a guide lumen, and a clearance opening radially extending through the guide sidewall in communication with the guide lumen. The first surgical tool has an elongate body and a distal head configured to deflect relative to the elongate body from a first position to a second position. The distal head in the first position is positioned within the guide lumen along the central axis. The distal head in the second position is deflected from the central axis and extends at least partially through the clearance opening thereby vacating at least a portion of the guide lumen for introducing a second surgical tool through the guide lumen.

Abstract: A tool, consisting of an enclosure and a rotatable knob retained by, and protruding from, the enclosure. The tool has a tube having a proximal end that is retained by the enclosure, and the tube has an axis of symmetry. A Geneva drive is retained within the enclosure, the Geneva drive consisting of a drive wheel fixedly attached to the rotatable knob and a driven wheel fixedly attached to the proximal end of the tube, so that an axis of rotation of the driven wheel coincides with the axis of symmetry of the tube. Thus, a continuous rotation of the rotatable knob causes the tube to rotate about the axis of symmetry in discrete angular steps.

Abstract: A registration device, including a wand, a light guide passing through the wand, and a position sensor fixed to the wand. A light source outputs a modulated beam of light into a light guide proximal end, so that the light is emitted from a light guide distal end toward a surface in proximity to a wand distal tip. A detector receives, from the light guide proximal end, light reflected from the surface into the light guide distal end, and outputs a signal indicative of the reflected light intensity. A processor computes a distance from the distal tip of the wand to the surface by extracting a phase difference between the output beam and the reflected light from the signal, and computes a position of the surface in a sensor frame of reference responsively to the computed distance and the location of the distal tip found from the position sensor.

Abstract: A surgical instrument and related method includes an instrument body, a guide shaft distally projecting from the instrument body, and a first surgical tool. The guide shaft has a guide sidewall, a guide lumen, and a clearance opening radially extending through the guide sidewall in communication with the guide lumen. The first surgical tool has an elongate body and a distal head configured to deflect relative to the elongate body from a first position to a second position. The distal head in the first position is positioned within the guide lumen along the central axis. The distal head in the second position is deflected from the central axis and extends at least partially through the clearance opening thereby vacating at least a portion of the guide lumen for introducing a second surgical tool through the guide lumen.

Abstract: A medical procedure system, including a medical instrument to be inserted into a body part, and including position-tracking transducers to provide position signals, a distal end, and at least one radiopaque marker, a position tracking sub-system to compute a position including at least one location and orientation of the distal end in a position-tracking sub-system coordinate frame responsively to the position signals, a fluoroscope to capture fluoroscopic images of an interior of the body part and the radiopaque marker(s), and a registration sub-system to render, to a display, the captured fluoroscopic images including at least one marker-image of the radiopaque marker(s), and at least one graphical representation indicative of the computed position of the distal end, receive user-alignment input aligning the graphical representation(s) with the marker-image(s), and register the position-tracking sub-system coordinate frame with a coordinate frame of the fluoroscope responsively to the received user-alignmen

Abstract: A disposable single-piston dual-action reciprocating pump part includes a single piston, an output port, and a balloon damper. The output port is configured for outputting fluid pumped by the single piston. The balloon damper is fitted in the output port, and the balloon damper is configured to suppress a pulsation in a flow rate of the outputted fluid.

Abstract: A system for visualizing catheter irrigation, the system includes a fluid container, a pump, a schlieren imaging assembly and a processor. The fluid container is configured to: (i) contain a first fluid, which is at least partially transparent and has a first temperature, and (ii) receive into the first fluid a catheter having one or more irrigation holes. The pump is configured to inject, through the one or more irrigation holes, a second fluid, which is at least partially transparent and has a second different temperature. The schlieren imaging assembly is configured to acquire schlieren images of turbulence occurring in the first fluid when injecting the second fluid, and the processor is configured to visualize the irrigation using the schlieren images.

Abstract: A disposable dual-action reciprocating pump part includes a piston and a cylinder, and multiple silicone O-rings. The piston is configured to move bi-directionally inside the cylinder. The multiple silicone O-rings are configured to seal the piston against the cylinder.

Abstract: A dual-action pump includes a cylinder, a piston and a controller. The cylinder includes first and second inlet-outlet ports, each of the first and second inlet-outlet ports is configured to alternately intake a fluid to the cylinder and output the fluid from the cylinder. The piston is configured to be moved within the cylinder in a periodic cycle that alternately reverses a direction of movement of the piston, so as to pump the fluid through the first and second inlet-outlet ports. The controller is configured to control the movement of the piston within the cylinder, including setting to the piston: (a) a first speed, during a first predefined interval that precedes reversing the direction of movement, (b) a second speed, larger than the first speed, during a second predefined interval that follows reversing the direction, and (c) a baseline speed, smaller than the first speed, outside the first and second intervals.

Abstract: An endoscope assembly includes a shaft assembly, an endoscopic camera assembly, and an anatomy elevation assembly. The shaft assembly includes a flexible outer shaft defining a lumen, a first electrical communication line, and a first fluid communication line. The endoscopic camera assembly is in communication with the first electrical communication line. The anatomy elevation assembly includes an inflatable member coupled to the flexible outer shaft. The inflatable member includes an interior surface. The first fluid communication line is in fluid communication with the inflatable member. The inflatable member is configured to transition between a deflated configuration and an inflated configuration. The interior surface is configured to define a viewing path distal to the endoscopic camera assembly while the inflatable member is in the inflated configuration.

Abstract: A trocar for insertion into an organ of a patient includes a cannula, a channel inside the cannula, and a camera. The cannula has a longitudinal axis, and the channel inside the cannula is fitted parallel to the longitudinal axis. The camera is disposed at a distal end of the channel and is configured to provide images in a direction of a distal opening of the cannula.

Abstract: An electrical apparatus includes a spiral electrode and an interface circuit. The spiral electrode is disposed on a distal end of a probe for insertion into a body of a patient. The interface circuit is configured to (a) transfer a radiofrequency (RF) ablation signal to the electrode for ablating tissue in the body, (b) output a voltage that develops across the electrode in response to an external magnetic field, for measuring a position of the distal end in the body, and (c) transfer electrical current through the electrode for measuring a resistivity that is indicative of tissue temperature in a vicinity of the electrode.

Abstract: A sinuplasty tool, consisting of a handle, and a rigid tube, containing a rigid tube lumen, having a rigid tube distal end and a rigid tube proximal end connected to the handle. The tool also has a resilient tube, containing a resilient tube lumen, having a resilient tube distal end and a resilient tube proximal end fixed to the rigid tube distal end so that the lumens align. The resilient tube has a multiplicity of separated openings partially encircling the resilient tube so as to form ribs in the resilient tube and permitting the resilient tube to bend. The resilient tube distal end may be inserted into a sinus of a living subject. The tool also has a wire, traversing the aligned lumens, connected to the resilient tube distal end and coupled to the handle, so that applying tension to the wire causes the resilient tube to bend.

Abstract: A system (11) includes a medical probe (36) for insertion into a cavity of an organ, which includes a position and direction sensor (60) and a camera (45), both operating in a sensor coordinate system (62). The system further includes a processor (44) configured to: receive, from an imaging system (21) operating in an image coordinate system (28), a three-dimensional image of the cavity including open space and tissue; receive, from the medical probe, signals indicating positions and respective directions of the medical probe inside the cavity; receive, from the camera, respective visualized locations inside the cavity; register the image coordinate system with the sensor coordinate system so as to identify one or more voxels in the image at the visualized locations, and when the identified voxels have density values in the received image that do not correspond to the open space, to update the density values of the identified voxels to correspond to the open space.

Abstract: A disposable dual-action reciprocating pump part includes a piston and a cylinder, and multiple silicone O-rings. The piston is configured to move bi-directionally inside the cylinder. The multiple silicone O-rings are configured to seal the piston against the cylinder.

Abstract: A trocar for insertion into an organ of a patient includes a cannula, an obturator body, and two or more interchangeable obturator heads. The cannula has a longitudinal axis. The obturator body is configured to be inserted into the cannula. The two or more interchangeable obturator heads are each configured to be detachably fitted at a distal end of the obturator body.

Abstract: A medical probe includes a shaft, a camera, a hollow cutting tool, and an inflatable balloon. The shaft is configured for insertion through a cut in a body of a patient, whereas the shaft includes a working vacuum channel running therethrough. The camera is fitted at a distal end of the shaft and is configured to provide images of a target tissue site in the body. The hollow cutting tool is for insertion over a guidewire in the working vacuum channel of the shaft, whereas the hollow cutting tool is configured to pierce the target tissue site under guidance of images taken by the camera. The inflatable balloon is configured to stabilize the distal end of the shaft, whereas the inflatable balloon is located proximally to the camera so as not to obstruct the images of the target tissue site.

Abstract: In one embodiment, a fluid dynamics system includes a solenoid valve including a valve body including ports including an inlet and outlet port, and a valve cavity having a direction of elongation and configured to provide fluid connectivity between ones of the ports, a solenoid coil disposed around valve cavity, and a plunger including a permanent magnet, and configured to move back-and-forth along the direction of elongation between a first and a second position in the valve cavity selectively controlling the fluid connectivity between respective ones of the ports, the valve body including shock absorber(s) to soften striking of the plunger against the valve body in the direction of elongation, and a controller configured to apply at least one current to the solenoid coil to selectively move the plunger between the first and second position, and to selectively maintain the plunger in the first position and the second position.