Patent Application
20090149771
The present invention is directed to devices and methods for determination of blood vessel location.
One of the most frequently performed medical procedures is the insertion of a needle into a live human body for the purpose of drawing blood from a vessel, delivery of fluids and drugs, inserting a catheter, performing diagnostic tests, administering medications, etc. Despite the frequency of this procedure, accurate needle insertion is often difficult due to difficulty in locating the desired vessel. Factors confounding vessel location include, but are not limited to, low or no blood pressure (elderly, cardiac arrest), the vessels being small (children), or the vessels not being easily visualized or palpated (obesity, tissue damage).
In cardio pulmonary resuscitation it can be necessary to provide vascular access. Perhaps the most effective way of getting vascular access in the emergency situation is to “cut down” and expose the vessels typically in the femoral or jugular site. But this procedure is felt to be messy, risky and time consuming. For those who are well trained and experienced, it could just take 5 minutes to get access, but the traditional emergency physician would need much longer. There are also additional concerns about causing unnecessary harm while performing the cut down procedure.
Over the years, minimally invasive surgical procedures have become more and more used. Now surgeons only need a few small holes to perform complicated surgical operations. To provide a clear field of view for an endoscope, gas or clear fluids are connected to get better access and fluids are circulated to clear blood from the field of view. This technique requires significant training to learn to efficiently use the surgical tools and to learn to recognize anatomical structures in a limited field of view.
Currently, several methods are being used to locate blood vessels. For instance, the use of anatomical landmarks to estimate the location of blood vessels based on position of visible features (articulations, muscles) and palpation of non-visible structures is a widespread technique in clinical practice. A clear disadvantage of this method is its low accuracy for certain patients (e.g. obesity patients, elderly) and certain medical situations (e.g. cardiac arrest).
Another method, known as “Popping”-detection, is also a widespread method for vessel location. This technique comprises inserting a needle in a body part at the site where a vessel is supposed to be. Because a vessel wall is elastic up to a certain degree, it is possible to notice a change in mechanical resistance to penetration when the needle perforates the vessel wall. This method also has several disadvantages. First, this method can require several attempts. Second, the vessel walls in elderly, children and cardiac arrest patients usually lack the elasticity necessary to ensure detection. Third, the use of gloves reduces the operator's sensation of popping as well as the ability to palpate non-visable structures.
Another method, “Flash back”-observation, is the observation of blood in the introduced needle when a blood vessel is perforated. This method has similar disadvantages as “popping”-detection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,280,787 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,692 disclose ultrasonic scanning of a body part to locate blood vessels. This technique requires advanced equipment and is again subject to error due to reduced or non existent blood flow. Additionally, this method requires significant training to ensure competent use of the ultrasound device.
As one can see, techniques with an acceptable accuracy (landmarks, flush-back, popping) require trial and error performed by means of needles, which leads to lack of efficiency, delays, potential injury and patient discomfort.
Thus, there is a need for a vessel locator which provides swift vessel location with minimal injury and discomfort. The ideal system facilitates quick and safe vascular access, is perceived not to harm the patient and can also be easily learned and remembered.
In one aspect of the invention, a vessel detector comprising a sensor, a display and an access device for positioning the sensor in a detection area. In one embodiment of the invention, the sensor device is an impedance sensor.
Embodiments of the present invention are directed toward a device and method for determining the location of blood vessels. Certain details are set forth below to provide a sufficient understanding of the embodiments of the invention. However, it will be clear to one skilled in the art that various embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these particular details.
When the tip 6 of device 4 is in contact with the skin surface, a very high impedance will be detected. In contact with fat, the impedance is still quite high, but smaller than skin impedance. In contact with skeletal muscle, the impedance is reduced markedly compared to fat. In contact with large blood vessels the impedance is as low as it gets. This is an indication that the tip 6 of the device 4 and thus the sense electrode is in contact with one large blood vessel. Smaller vessels may cause an artifact as the said volume of measurement in that case will include a combination of a small vessel and its surrounding tissue.
An article discussing impedance relative to body tissue is Tissue Resistivity (from Geddes, Baker: “Principles of applied biomedical instrumentation”, a Wiley-Interscience Publication. New York, 1989, chapter 11), incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
Display 7 is arranged to receive signals from the sensor and to display an indication of the presence of blood vessels. One such indication can be implemented as an image of the detection area. A visual image will be provided by detector 1 if the system comprises a camera.
In one embodiment of the invention, the tip 6 of device 4 comprises a fastening means to suction the vessel firmly in contact with the tip 6. This suction force is provided by a suction pump which can be integrated with the source 5, and where a suction fastening device is connected to device 4 using a flexible tubing. The suction force may be provided manually, electrically, by the use of compressed gas, or any other method capable of providing suction. Device 4 might be arranged with a number of suction channels to facilitate good contact with the vessel.
In one embodiment, the cannula 15 has a small in diameter, approximately the size of a pencil, to facilitate penetration of the skin at the desired location. The jugular or femoral locations on the body are the most commonly used.
Even a small penetration can cause bleeding. For this reason and as will be discussed below, the detector can circulate clear fluid such that blood or other visual impediments can be washed from the site. The flushing fluid used has limited conductivity in order to support the impedance system, i.e. distilled water.
The access device or penetrating body can be further arranged with a vacuum tip, such that when the vessel is located by visual and/or impedance means, it can be connected to the tip of the cannula using vacuum in order to facilitate vessel penetration and vessel-cannula connection.
In one embodiment, when using a camera, the imaging device can comprise a transparent and electrically conductive layer in the area arranged for contact with a detection area.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, one or more light sources 12 are provided for the camera. In one embodiment, the light source is a set of LED arranged next to the camera. In another embodiment the light source is provided externally and a set of light fibers are used to bring the light to the tip of the sense electrode.
Because blood often reduces visibility, a fluid source might be necessary. The fluid can be arranged as part of the system in openings 12, coincident with the light sources or in separate openings 12. In addition, the fluid can be a simple bag of fluid that is left elevated from the access site.
In addition, because the sensor tip 6 is arranged with suction, it will also bring out fluid with blood and thereby enhance visibility. With the camera on the tip 6 of the access device 4, the operator can now use the display 7 of
As stated above, the vessel detector, thus uses impedance measurements to detect a blood vessel, using the principles of keyhole surgery, namely that the incisions in the skin are made as small as possible, and that necessary instrumentation is entered trough those incisions. Minimally invasive surgery uses a camera or fiber optics to allow visual identification of structures of interest. The vessel detector primarily uses impedance analysis to identify a structure, in this case a blood vessel.
Although the present invention has been described with reference to the disclosed embodiments, persons skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made in form and detail without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Such modifications are well within the skill of those ordinarily skilled in the art. Accordingly, the invention is not limited except as by the appended claims.
