Patent Application
20200222072
The present invention relates to a surgical instrument for pharynx and larynx, and more particularly to an image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly.
A pair of conventional pharyngolaryngeal forceps 90 for a pharyngolaryngeal foreign body removal surgery, as shown in
To operate a pharyngolaryngeal foreign body removal surgery in an outpatient clinic, the patient needs to sit up straight and hold the tongue out of the mouth to unblock the opening of the pharyngolaryngeal cavity. The surgeon needs to wear a light source on the head, hold an indirect pharyngolaryngeal mirror 80 with one hand, and hold laryngeal forceps 90 with the other hand. Then, the surgeon will insert the body 93 of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps 90 into the pharyngolaryngeal cavity of the patient, and will grasp and remove foreign bodies from the pharynx or larynx with the jaw assembly 91 under the reflective field of view of the indirect pharyngolaryngeal mirror 80.
However, the indirect pharyngolaryngoscopy surgery has the following shortcomings. The patient needs to hold the tongue by his/her own hand to unblock the opening of laryngeal cavity, and may not cooperate well with the surgeon. Moreover, the reflective field of view of the indirect pharyngolaryngeal mirror 80 is small. The surgeon may not see foreign bodies in the pharynx or larynx clearly under insufficient light with the indirect pharyngolaryngeal mirror 80, and this will cause failure of foreign body removal.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
The main objective of the invention is to provide a simple pharyngolaryngeal surgical instrument, which can provide illumination and capture real time videos or images of pharynx and larynx during a pharyngolaryngeal surgery. The surgeon can perform the surgery without holding an indirect laryngeal mirror and wearing a lighting source for observing assistance.
The image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly has a pair of pharyngolaryngeal forceps and an image-guided device. The pair of pharyngolaryngeal forceps has a jaw assembly, a body connected to the jaw assembly and being slender and curved, and a handle connected to the jaw assembly via the body. The image-guided device is fixed on the body of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps and has a tube body, a camera module, and a signal transmitter. The tube body is mounted along the body of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps, is slender and flexible, and has multiple electrical wires mounted in the tube body. The camera module is disposed on an end of the tube body near the jaw assembly of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps and has a lens and multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs) facing the jaw assembly of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps. The signal transmitter is disposed on an end of the flexible tube body near the handle of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps and is connected to the camera module with the electrical wires of the tube body.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
With reference to
The pair of pharyngolaryngeal forceps 10 may be conventional, is applied to grasp foreign bodies in the pharynx or larynx or remove diseased tissues of the pharynx or larynx of a patient, and has a jaw assembly 11, a body 13, and a handle 15. The jaw assembly 11 is applied to grasp foreign bodies in or diseased tissues of the pharynx or larynx. The jaw assembly 11 may have various specifications for different pharyngolaryngeal surgeries, and the detail thereof is omitted. The body 13 is connected to the jaw assembly 11, and is slender and curved for easy insertion into the pharyngolaryngeal cavity. The handle 15 may be formed as a scissors handle, is connected to the jaw assembly 11 via the body 13, and is applied to control opening and closing movements of the jaw assembly 11 to grasp and hold foreign bodies and diseased tissues.
With reference to
The camera module 21 is a cylinder and has a lens 211 and multiple light-emitting diodes (LEDs) 213 mounted in the end of the camera module 21 that faces the jaw assembly 11 of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps 10. The lens 211 is mounted in the middle of the camera module 21 to capture videos or images near the jaw assembly 11. The LEDs 213 are arranged around the lens 211 at angular intervals to illuminate the area where the lens 211 is capturing images.
With reference to
With reference to
In another embodiment, the wireless signal transmitter 25A may include an electrical connector and a wireless signal transmitter unit connected to each other. The electrical connector is mounted on the tube body 23 and is detachably connected to the wireless signal transmitter unit. The signals can be transmitted to the external device 30 via radio waves when the electrical connector is connected to the wireless signal transmitter unit. The signals can be transmitted to the external device 30 via the electrical signal transmission connector, when the electrical connector is connected to the external device 30 directly.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
To perform a pharyngolaryngeal surgery, the surgeon will hold the image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly with one hand, and hold the tongue of the patient with the other hand for unblocking the opening to the pharyngolaryngeal cavity of the patient. Then, the surgeon will insert the jaw assembly 11 of the pharyngolaryngeal forceps 10 into the pharyngolaryngeal cavity of the patient, the LEDs 213 of the camera module 21 will illuminate the pharynx and larynx of the patient, the lens 211 will capture the videos or images of the pharynx and larynx of the patient, and the real time videos or the images being captured by the camera module 21 will be displayed on the screen of the external device 30. The surgeon will be able to observe affected portion of the pharynx and larynx of the patient with enlarged images shown on the screen. The surgeon can move the pharyngolaryngeal forceps 10 to the affected portion under the real time videos or images shown on the screen to grasp and remove the diseased tissues with the jaw assembly 11. The surgeon can perform the pharyngolaryngeal surgery with two hands.
With such arrangements, the image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly in accordance with the present invention can capture and transmit the real time videos or images to the external device 30 and can provide illumination during the pharyngolaryngeal surgery. The surgeon can hold the image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly with one hand, hold the tongue of the patient to unblock the opening of laryngeal cavity with the other hand, and observe the pharynx and larynx of the patient displayed on the screen of the external device 30. The image-guided pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly has advantages of simple structures, portability, flexibility, and mobility.
Compared to the conventional indirect pharyngolaryngoscopy surgery, with the image-guide pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly of the present invention, the surgeon can perform the surgery without holding the indirect pharyngolaryngeal mirror and carrying the light source on the head during the surgery, and can perform the surgery by himself without assistance from the patient.
Compared to the conventional indirect pharyngolaryngoscopy surgery, by performing the pharyngolaryngeal surgery with the image-guide pharyngolaryngeal forceps assembly, the amount of instruments which are inserted in the pharyngolaryngeal cavity of the patient is decreased, traumas and infections during the surgery can be reduced, and the success rate of the surgery can be improved.
