Surgical instrument steering mechanism patent granted

ChangeBridge: Patent Grants - Diagnosis & Surgery (A61B)

Published March 24th, 2026

Detected March 26th, 2026

Summary

The USPTO has granted a new patent (US12582493B2) for a surgical instrument steering mechanism developed by KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG. The patent covers a mechanism with two motorized drives designed to control the distal bending of surgical instruments. The filing date for this patent was July 25, 2022.

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What changed

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has granted patent US12582493B2 for a novel surgical instrument steering mechanism. The patent, assigned to KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG, details a system with two motorized drives that spatially align a swash plate to control the distal bending of a surgical instrument. The mechanism utilizes worm shafts and double gears to achieve precise control.

This patent grant signifies the protection of intellectual property related to medical device innovation. While not imposing direct compliance obligations on other entities, it establishes exclusive rights for the assignee. Companies operating in the surgical instrument or medical device manufacturing sector should be aware of this patent to avoid potential infringement and to inform their own R&D strategies.

Source document (simplified)

← USPTO Patent Grants

Surgical instrument and steering mechanism for same

Grant US12582493B2 Kind: B2 Mar 24, 2026

Assignee

KARL STORZ SE & Co. KG

Inventors

Dominik Längle, Janosz Schneider, Jochen Stefan, Sven Axel Grüner

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a steering mechanism for a surgical instrument. The steering mechanism has two motorized drives and is designed to spatially align a swash plate over the control angle of the two drives, said swash plate being designed to control a distal bending mechanism of the surgical instrument. A first drive of the two drives has a first motor which drives a worm shaft that drives a worm wheel rim of a double gear consisting of a worm wheel rim and a bevel wheel rim), and a second drive of the two drives has a second motor which drives a worm shaft that drives a worm wheel rim of a double gear consisting of a worm wheel rim and a bevel wheel rim. The swash plate is arranged between the two bevel wheel rims, which face each other and lie on a common axis.