as illustrated in fig1 , a method for insufflating a patient &# 39 ; s abdominal cavity ac during a trans - organ surgical procedure as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 297 , 536 and 5 , 458 , 131 ( both incorporated by reference herein ) includes inserting a distal end portion of an insufflation instrument 12 into a hollow internal organ io of the patient via a natural body opening nbo of the patient . internal organ io , which defines an internal body cavity ic , may be the stomach , the urinary bladder , the colon , or the vagina , while the natural body opening nbo is the mouth , the urethral orifice , the anus , or the vaginal orifice . instrument 12 includes a hollow needle 14 at a distal end of a tubular flexible shaft member 16 . the inserting of needle 14 into the patient may include passing the needle and a distal end portion of the shaft member 16 along a nonlinear path ( not separately designated ) having at least one bend or turn 18 , 20 . a distal or free end 22 of needle 14 is inserted through a wall 24 of the organ io and thereafter a pressurized fluid is conveyed through shaft 16 and needle 14 into the patient &# 39 ; s abdominal cavity ac on the side of wall 24 opposite the internal body cavity ic . shaft 16 may be coupled at a proximal end to a handpiece 26 provided with one or more steering control or actuator knobs 28 and a port 30 connected to a source 32 of pressurized carbon dioxide gas . needle 14 and the distal end portion of shaft 16 may be inserted into the patient and particularly into organ io through a tubular working channel 34 of an endoscope sheath 36 . needle 14 may be disposed inside channel 34 at the time of manufacture and thus inserted into the patient together with an endoscope 38 . endoscope 38 is connected to a video monitor 40 for enabling a surgeon to view the insertion path and the inner surface of wall 24 during the perforation or penetration of the organ wall by needle 14 . if needle 14 is inserted into cavity ic together with endoscope 38 and sheath 36 , channel 34 may be formed with an inner lining that is made of a hard , puncture resistant material . alternatively , needle 14 may be housed in a dedicated deployment tube ( not illustrated ) that may be inserted into channel 34 after the insertion of endoscope 38 and sheath 36 into the patient . as an alternative or additional method for the monitoring of organ io and needle 14 prior to and during the penetration of wall 24 by the needle , a wireless scanning apparatus such as an ultrasound scanner 42 may be used to view internal organ io and other structures inside the patient on a display or monitor 44 . ultrasound scanner 42 may particularly include a transducer carrier 46 placed in contact with the patient , an ultrasonic waveform generator 48 operatively connected to the carrier for energizing the transducers ( e . g ., piezoelectric crystals , not shown ) thereof , and a computer 50 functioning as an ultrasound signal analyzer operatively connected to the carrier for receiving therefrom signals encoding ultrasonic waves reflected from internal structures . an entirely electronic ( no moving parts ) ultrasound scanner suitable for the present purposes is disclosed in the following patents : u . s . pat . no . 5 , 871 , 446 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 023 , 032 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 319 , 201 , u . s . pat . no . 6 , 106 , 463 , and u . s . pat . no . 6 , 306 , 090 . other kinds of ultrasound scanning devices , as well as magnetic resonance imaging , x - ray machines , and cat scanners , may also be suitable for present purposes , i . e ., for monitoring the shapes and relative positions of organ io and other internal tissue structures . ultrasound scanner 42 is operated and display or monitor 44 viewed in order to determine whether a selected location along organ wall 24 is free and clear of other intra - abdominal organs or whether organ wall 24 at a selected location lies against another organ ao or the patient . this determination is made prior to the penetration of wall 24 by needle 14 , to ensure that needle 14 does not enter another organ ao and conduct insufflation fluid into that other organ . instead , the point of penetration of needle 14 through wall 24 is selected to avoid adjacent organ structures ao , so that needle 14 subsequently conducts carbon dioxide gas into abdominal cavity ac . fig2 depicts an alternative abdomen inflation method wherein the detection of an adjacent organ structure aos inside the patient is accomplished via an ultrasound probe 52 that is inserted into a hollow body organ hb via a natural body opening or aperture nba together with an insufflation needle 54 . probe 52 may specifically include one or more ultrasound transducers 56 disposed in the end of an elongate flexible tubular member 58 from which needle 54 is ejected into a natural body cavity nc defined by a wall 60 of organ hb . needle 54 is coupled to the distal end of an elongate flexible tubular shaft ( not shown ) such as shaft 16 in fig1 . such an elongate flexible tubular shaft is insertable through a lumen or channel inside tubular member 58 . that lumen or channel may be lined at a distal end with a layer of a hard low - friction material such as polytetrafluoroethylene , to facilitate the ejection of needle 54 . probe 52 may include a handpiece 62 connected to a proximal end of tubular member 58 , the handpiece being provided with steering controls 64 and a port 66 for coupling to a source or reservoir 68 of pressurized carbon dioxide gas ( possibly in liquid form ). handpiece 62 is also provided with a connector 70 for forming an electrically conductive link to an ultrasound electronics apparatus and display 72 . this electrically conductive link enables the transmission of ultrasound pressure waves and the sensing of incoming reflected waveforms by 56 under the control of ultrasound electronics apparatus 72 . probe 52 and needle 54 may be inserted into cavity nc through a collapsible tubular channel element 74 of an endoscope sheath 76 attached to and surrounding an endoscope 78 . endoscope 78 has optical elements 80 and a handpiece 82 . sheath 76 may be provided with a second tubular channel 84 through which an instrument 86 is inserted into cavity nc of organ hb for deploying a port element 88 ( fig3 b ) in organ wall 60 . at the time of insertion , instrument 86 includes port element 88 in a collapsed or folded insertion configuration 90 and an elongate flexible tubular shaft 92 . at a proximal end , shaft 92 includes a port or connector schematically represented at 94 for coupling the shaft to a source 96 of pressurized fluid such as saline solution . upon the insertion of needle 54 and probe 52 into cavity nc of organ hb and the subsequent placement of transducer elements 56 into contact with a proximal surface 98 ( fig3 a and 3b ) of organ wall 60 , ultrasound electronics 72 are operated to scan through the organ wall for the presence of an adjacent organ structure aos in contact with or proximate to a distal surface 100 ( fig3 a and 3b ) of wall 60 . if an adjacent organ structure aos is detected , probe 52 is manipulated from outside the patient to reposition the probe head ( not separately enumerated ) including transducer elements 56 at another location along proximal surface 8 of organ wall 60 . upon failing to detect an adjacent organ structure aos alongside distal surface 100 of organ wall 60 , the operating surgeon moves needle 54 in a distal direction to penetrate through wall 60 . upon completed penetration , carbon dioxide gas from source or reservoir 68 through the flexible shaft or tube ( not shown ) and into the abdominal cavity ac via needle 54 . upon an insufflation of the abdominal cavity by this method , needle 54 is withdrawn from organ wall 60 . then instrument 86 in moved forward so that the collapsed form 90 of port element 88 may be pushed partially through organ wall 60 at the former site of needle penetration ( see fig3 a ). subsequently , a disk 102 or balloon 104 on the distal side of port element 88 is expanded from the collapsed configuration 90 of the port element , as shown in fig3 b , while a balloon or bladder element 106 on the proximal side of the port element is inflated to an expanded configuration . disk 102 is made of a flexible sheet material . disk 102 ( or balloon 104 ) and balloon 106 define respective apertures ( not shown ) that are aligned with one another to define a hole for the passage of a medical instrument ( not shown ) through the port element 88 . balloon 106 is attached to disk 102 and has an inflation tube 108 for enabling an introduction of a pressurizing fluid into the balloon to expand the balloon from a collapsed insertion configuration to an inflated use configuration . ( in the case of balloon 104 in place of disk 102 , balloons 104 and 106 communicate with one another to enable an inflating of both balloons via saline or other fluid conveying through tube 108 .) at least one valve element in the form of a self - sealing membrane or film ( not shown ) may be provided on port element 88 for forming a seal about the shaft of a medical instrument inserted through the port element into abdominal cavity ac during a trans - organ procedure as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 297 , 536 and 5 , 458 , 131 . the valve element or self - sealing membrane may be realized as a resilient annular flange or film material about at least one of the apertures in the disk 102 and the balloon 106 . another elongate tube 110 may be attached to port element 88 , traversing the port element , for the introduction of gas ( e . g ., carbon dioxide ) to maintain pneumoperitoneum in abdominal cavity ac during a trans - organ procedure as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 297 , 536 and 5 , 458 , 131 . disk 102 may be provided along an edge or periphery with a ring ( not shown ) of a resilient material stiffer than the flexible sheet material of the disk . the ring assists in spreading disk 102 during a deployment procedure , after a passing of disk 102 in a collapsed form through the artificial aperture aa formed in organ wall 60 , for instance , by needle 54 or an incising instrument ( not shown ). alternatively , where the ring is omitted , disk 102 is held in an opened configuration by the higher gas pressure in the abdominal cavity ac . in a trans - organ surgical procedure as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 297 , 536 and 5 , 458 , 131 , port element 88 is connected to wall 60 and disposed in artificial aperture aa to keep that aperture open during a surgical procedure conducted via organ hb and natural body cavity nc , as described in u . s . pat . nos . 5 , 297 , 536 and 5 , 458 , 131 . upon completed deployment of port element 88 , disk 102 ( or balloon 104 ) and balloon 106 sandwich organ wall 60 and maintain access to abdominal cavity ac via aperture aa . port element 88 may be used upon completion of the insufflation operation discussed above with reference to fig1 . needle 54 may be inserted into the patient along a nonlinear path having at least one bend or turn . alternatively , in some cases , the needle 54 may be inserted into the patient along a linear path . insufflation instrument 12 , 52 , etc ., may be marketed as a component of a kit including port element 88 and / or one or more surgical instruments having elongate flexible shafts provided at proximal ends with handle or actuators and at distal ends with operative tips such as scalpel blades , scissors , forceps , cauterizers , retrieval pouches , snares , etc . the instruments of the kit may vary in accordance with different kinds of procedures that may be performed via trans - organ access as described above . thus , a tubal ligation would require a clip applier . a bladder removal procedure could utilize a cutting and cauterization tool , a graspers and a tissue removal instrument ( none shown in particular ). the kit may further include sheath 36 , which may include more than two working channels should more than one instrument be required simultaneously during a contemplated procedure . although the invention has been described in terms of particular embodiments and applications , one of ordinary skill in the art , in light of this teaching , can generate additional embodiments and modifications without departing from the spirit of or exceeding the scope of the claimed invention . accordingly , it is to be understood that the drawings and descriptions herein are proffered by way of example to facilitate comprehension of the invention and should not be construed to limit the scope thereof .
in a surgical method , a hollow needle is inserted into a hollow internal organ of a patient through a natural body opening . a wireless scanning apparatus is operated externally of the patient to obtain data as to internal structures of the patient on a side of a wall of the organ opposite the body cavity . a distal tip or free end of the needle is passed through the wall of the organ only upon detecting , via the wireless scanning apparatus , an absence of internal organic tissues of the patient in contact with the wall of the organ on the side of the organ opposite the body cavity . upon the passing of the distal tip or free end of the needle through the wall of the organ , pressurized co2 gas is conveyed through the needle into the patient on the side of the wall opposite the body cavity . the needle may be connected to the distal end of an elongate flexible hollow shaft and an endoscope may be optionally used to view the needle deployment procedure .