Patent Application
20110313255
1. Technical Field
This application generally relates to the field of laparoscopic surgery. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to veress needles for laparoscopic visualization of a body cavity.
2. Description of Related Art
In laparoscopic procedures, surgery is performed in the interior of the abdomen through a small incision. In endoscopic procedures, surgery is performed in any hollow viscus of the body through a narrow tube or cannula inserted through a small entrance incision in the skin. Since surgical procedures in the abdominal cavity of the body require insufflating gases to raise the cavity wall away from vital organs, the procedure is usually initiated by use of a veress needle through which a gas, such as CO2, is introduced into the body cavity, thereby creating a pneumoperitoneum. The gas provides a positive pressure which raises the inner body wall away from internal organs, thereby providing the surgeon with a region within which to operate and avoid unnecessary contact with the organs by the instruments inserted into the body cavity.
Moreover, laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures often require the surgeon to visually inspect and magnify organs, tissue, and vessels both near and far removed from the incision. However, in order permit a more comprehensive visual inspection and magnification of the body cavity including material far removed from the incision, the surgeon typically relies on a camera or endoscope that is inserted through a separate incision.
In this manner, veress needles and endoscopes have each provided significant clinical benefits. Nonetheless, improvements are possible, for example, by reducing the complexity of manufacture and/or application.
Accordingly, the present disclosure is directed to a veress needle that includes a housing, a first optical insert, and a second optical insert. The housing includes one or more insufflation conduits and an elongate member. The housing may include one or more seals adapted to permit the sealed reception of one or both of the first and second optical inserts. The one or more insufflation conduits are adapted to permit the passage and reception of one or more fluids therethrough. The elongate member extends from the housing and is adapted for insertion within tissue to access an underlying tissue site. The housing defines a passage therethrough. The first and second optical inserts are operably associated with the housing and removably positionable within the passage of the housing while the elongate member remains positioned within tissue.
Each optical insert includes an optical assembly having one or more lenses and an ocular. The optical assembly includes a fiber optic image bundle. The optical assembly defines a chamber between the fiber optic image bundle and the one or more lenses. The chamber may include index matching material. The one or more lenses may be a standard lens. The one or more lenses may be diffractive lenses. The one or more lenses are adapted to receive an image and transmit the image to the ocular so that the image is perceptible through the ocular. The one or more lenses of the first optical insert transmit images that are in direct contact with the distal end of the first optical insert to the ocular of the first optical insert for contact viewing. The one or more lenses of the second optical insert transmit images that are disposed at a distance from the distal end thereof to the ocular of the second optical insert for distance viewing. The first and second optical inserts are interchangeably positionable within the passage of the housing.
The optical assembly may include one or more fiber optic light guides adapted to permit the passage and reception of light therethrough. The optical assembly may include one or more light emitting diodes that transmit light through the one or more light guides. The light may be emitted from an external light source operably associated with the optical assembly. The optical assembly may include a beam splitter operably associated with the ocular.
In one aspect, a method of viewing an underlying tissue site includes providing a veress needle including a housing having an elongate member extending therefrom and first and second optical inserts. The method further includes positioning the elongate member within tissue to access an underlying tissue site. The method involves positioning one of the first and second optical inserts within the housing. The method includes removing the first or second optical insert from the housing. The method further includes selectively positioning the other of the first and second optical inserts within the housing. The method involves viewing the underlying tissue site with one or more of the first and second optical inserts. Typically, the contact viewing insert is used to assess the initial state of the tissue site during insertion of the needle and the distance viewing insert is used for viewing within the pneumoperitonium. The method may include providing illumination through one or more of the first and second optical inserts. The method may involve insufflating the underlying tissue site.
The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
It should be understood that veress needles are extremely slender instruments and that, for clarity, the drawings above are not to scale. Further, a veress needle typically has a sharpened or beveled distal end to enable penetration of tissue.
Detailed embodiments of the present disclosure are disclosed herein; however, the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the disclosure, which may be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present disclosure in virtually any appropriately detailed structure.
Particular embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. As shown in the drawings and as described throughout the following description, and as is traditional when referring to relative positioning on an object, the term “proximal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is closer to the user and the term “distal” refers to the end of the apparatus that is farther from the user. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present disclosure in unnecessary detail.
Referring now to the drawings,
The elongate member 112 extends from the housing 110 and is adapted for insertion within tissue “T” to access the underlying tissue site “TS.” As shown in
Referring again to
With reference to
With continued reference to
In operation, the underlying tissue site “TS” may be accessed by positioning the elongate member 112 within tissue “T.” The underlying tissue site “TS” may then be insufflated to provide a working space within the body cavity. With the veress needle 100 in situ and with the optical insert 120a positioned within the housing 110, images of material, e.g., tissue, organs, vessels, etc., within the underlying tissue site “TS” in contact with or in close proximity to the distal end of the optical insert 120a, may be viewed. Alternatively, the optical insert 120b may be positioned within the housing 110 so that images of material at a distance relative to the distal end of the optical insert 120b may be viewed. Whichever optical insert 120 is positioned within the housing 110 may then be removed therefrom after viewing the underlying tissue site “TS” at the respective distal or proximal proximity. The same or a different optical insert 120 may then be selectively positioned within the housing 110. Each of these optical inserts 120a, 120b are interchangeably positionable within the passage 114 of the housing 110. In this respect, the one or more seals 116 permit the sealed reception and passage of each optical insert 120 through the housing 110 when the optical inserts 120 are interchanged. Each optical insert 120 may have one or more lenses 132 that have the same or different powers and thicknesses. Optical insert 120a enables a clinician to perceive different and/or more comprehensive details of images within the tissue “T.” Optical insert 120b enables a clinician to perceive different and/or more comprehensive details of images within an underlying tissue site “TS.”
While several embodiments of the disclosure have been shown in the drawings, it is not intended that the disclosure be limited thereto, as it is intended that the disclosure be as broad in scope as the art will allow and that the specification be read likewise. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting, but merely as exemplifications of the presently disclosed embodiments. Thus the scope of the embodiments should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples given.
The present application claims the benefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/356,149 filed on Jun. 18, 2010, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61356149 | Jun 2010 | US |
