Claims
- 1. An apparatus for reducing the danger of damage to a body member located in a region of an intrusive procedure in a body in which the body member is located comprising,
a fiber optic light guide insertable into the body member to be protected, a source of light energy having at least strong infrared light energy, means for introducing such energy into said light guide, said light guide having a region for emitting said infrared energy from said body member, a source of visible light energy, means for introducing said visible light energy into said region, means for pulsing at least one of said sources of light energy, and means for locating the body member by detecting the location of the source of infrared light energy in the body.
- 2. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising
means for energizing said sources in alternation.
- 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising
a signal device for stimulating a human sensory response, said signal device having a probe insertable into a body adjacent an operation site for transmitting light energy to said signal device, and means for rendering said signal device operative only when said infrared energy source is energized.
- 4. The apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 20 further comprising
a camera responsive to at least infrared energy, a second light guide for directing energy from said sources to said camera.
- 5. The apparatus according to claim 4 wherein said camera is responsive to both visible and infrared light energy.
- 6. The apparatus according to claim 4 wherein
said camera is a video camera, and a monitor for receiving signals from said video camera and displaying said signals on its screen.
- 7. The apparatus according to claim 6 further comprising
means for pulsing said sources on and off in alternation, and means for synchronizing the pulsing of said sources with the scan of said monitor.
- 8. The apparatus according to claim 7 further comprising
means for synchronizing the shutter of said camera with said pulsing of said sources.
- 9. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein
said monitor operates on the NTSC system and images produced when each said source is energized are displayed alternately by the interlaced scans of said monitor.
- 10. The apparatus according to claims 1 and 20 further comprising
a camera responsive to both infrared energy and visible light energy, means for directing infrared energy to said camera, said last-mentioned means directing visible light reflected from said region to said camera.
- 11. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein
said monitor operates on the PAL system and images produced when each said source is energized are displayed alternately by the scans of said monitor.
- 12. The apparatus according to claim 7 wherein
said monitor operates on the SECAM system and images produced when each said source is energized are displayed by the scans of said monitor.
- 13. The apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising
a sleeve disposable about a surgical instrument to be inserted into said region and insertable therewith, said sleeve having means for securing said fiber optic light guide to such instrument for insertion into such region with such instrument.
- 14. An apparatus for reducing the danger of damage to a body member located in a region of an intrusive procedure in a body in which the body member is located comprising,
a fiber optic light guide insertable into the body member to be protected, a source of light energy having means for introducing such energy into said light guide, said light guide having a region for emitting said infrared energy along axes transverse to said light guide, a source of visible light, means for introducing said visible light into said region, means for pulsing at least one of said sources of light, and means for locating said body member by detecting said infrared light energy.
- 15. A sleeve comprising
an elongated hollow body for receiving a surgical instrument to be inserted into said region, said elongated body having a wall, an elongated passage extending approximately the length of said hollow body in said wall thereof, and an optical fiber disposed in said passage in said hollow body.
- 16. The apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 20 further comprising
means for at least substantially reducing the infrared light energy produced by said visible light source.
- 17. The apparatus according to claim 4 further comprising
a polarizing filter disposed between said second light guide and said camera.
- 18. An apparatus for reducing the danger of damage to a body member located in a region of an intrusive procedure in a body in which the body member is located comprising,
a fiber optic light guide insertable into the body member to be protected, a source of light energy having at least strong infrared light energy, means for introducing such energy into said light guide, said light guide having a region for emitting said infrared energy from said body member, a source of visible light energy, means for removing a substantial amount of infrared light energy from the visible light, means for introducing said visible light energy into said region, a video camera sensitive to both visible and infrared light energy, said camera supplying signals to said monitor to display signals received by said video camera.
- 19. An apparatus for reducing the danger of damage to a body member located in a region of an intrusive procedure in a body in which the body member is located comprising,
a fiber optic light guide insertable into the body member to be protected, a source of light energy having at least strong infrared light energy, means for introducing such energy into said light guide, said light guide having a region for emitting said infrared energy from said body member, a source of visible light energy, means for substantially eliminating infrared light energy from said visible light, means for introducing said visible light energy into said region, and means for locating the body member by detecting the location of the source of infrared light energy in the body.
- 20. The apparatus according to claims 18 and 19 wherein
said infrared light energy is pulsed.
- 21. The apparatus according to claim 19 further comprising
means for protecting nerve tissue from damage, said means comprising an infrared light energy probe in contact with the nerve.
- 22. An article of commerce in kit form comprising
a light guide insertable into a cavity in an animal, said light guide having means to emit light from a predetermined region thereof, a source of light having means for directing light into said light guide, a light detector capable of detecting light emitted by said light guide, and said light detector having means for indicating proximity of said means to emit light to said light guide.
- 23. An article of commerce according to claim 22 further comprising
a polarizing light filter.
- 24. An article of commerce according to claim 22 wherein
said source is a source of infrared energy.
- 25. The method of locating and thus reducing the danger during surgery or other invasion of a body of injury to body members into which a catheter or the like may be inserted comprising the steps of
inserting a catheter into the body member, inserting an elongated infrared light guide having a region that emits such light into the catheter, directing infrared light energy into the light guide, directing visible light into a region adjacent the body member, pulsing at least one of said lights in alternation, and indicating the proximity of an ongoing surgical procedure to the body member by determining the intensity of the infrared radiation exiting the body member at the surgical site.
- 26. The method of locating and thus protecting a body member during a surgical or other body invasive procedure in the vicinity of such body member comprising the steps of
emitting infrared energy from the body member to be protected, illuminating the site of the procedure with visible light from which infrared energy has been substantially eliminated, and detecting infrared energy whereby to locate the body member to be detected.
- 27. The method according to claim 25 further including the step of
directing the light energy at the surgical site to a camera sensitive to both infrared and visible light energy.
- 28. The method according to claim 25 further including the step of polarizing the light presented to the camera.
- 29. The method according to claim 25 further including
protecting a nerve from damage during an invasive body procedure by subjecting the nerve to infrared light energy.
- 30. The method of locating a body member comprising
illuminating one side of the body member with infrared light energy, and detecting on the opposite side of the body member the location of the source of infrared light energy relative to the body member.
Priority Claims (3)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
8-511079 |
Sep 1995 |
JP |
|
95934484.7 |
Sep 1995 |
EP |
|
2,200,063 |
Sep 1995 |
CA |
|
RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/951,759 filed Oct. 16, 1997, a file wrapper continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/355,164 filed Dec. 8, 1994, now abandoned, a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/305,296 filed Sep. 15, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,517,997, and is related to U.S. application Ser. No. 08/190,516 filed Feb. 2, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,321 and assignable to the same assignee as the present invention.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08951759 |
Oct 1997 |
US |
Child |
09391882 |
Sep 1999 |
US |