US Patent 11998176 Systems and methods for cleaning a minimally invasive instrument

An elongate flexible instrument includes an elongate flexible instrument, an image capture instrument, and at least one heat transfer element. The elongate flexible instrument defines an internal channel. The internal channel is configured to receive a fluid from a fluid source. The image capture instrument is disposed within the internal channel in a distal portion of the elongate flexible instrument. The at least one heat transfer element is configured to transfer heat from the image capture instrument to the fluid.