Sensing and avoiding surgical equipment
US9486128B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 3, 2014 |
| Grant date | Nov 8, 2016 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 3, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC A)Human Necessities
- CPC primaryA61B2505/05
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A surgical imaging system includes a light source configured to illuminate a portion of a surgical environment and a light sensor configured to receive light from the illuminated portion in response to the illumination. The surgical imaging system determines spectrographic content of the received light and uses the determined spectrographic content to identify the illuminated portion of the surgical environment; for example, to determine that the portion contains a surgical instrument, a foreign body, a suture, a particular type of tissue, a blood vessel, and/or a fluorescent marker. This identification of the illuminated portion of the surgical environment could be used to implement a surgical intervention. For example, a surgical laser could be operated, based on such generated identification information, to ablate cancerous tissue in the surgical environment that is marked with a fluorophore while avoiding ablating any sutures or surgical instruments disposed in the surgical environment.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.