Illumination assembly for dental and medical applications

Abstract

A small, lightweight, high intensity illumination assembly for use in dental and medical applications. The illumination assembly includes attachment means for removable attachment to headgear such as eyeglasses, face shields, or headbands, and lenses, loupes, and binoculars associated with such headgear. The illumination assembly is able to achieve extremely light weight by using only a single optical element therein, e.g., an aspheric condensing lens, binary optical element, or holographic optical means, and by piping illumination to the optical element from a remote light source by use of a flexible light guide, e.g., a fiberoptic bundle.

Description

[0001]The present application is a reissue application of U.S. Pat. No. 5,667,291.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The invention relates generally to the field of head-mounted illumination devices for medical and dental use, and specifically to the field of small, lightweight, high-intensity illumination assemblies for medical and dental use which are mounted on the user's head to provide coaxial illumination.DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART[0003]Personnel who work in medical and dental fields frequently have a need to illuminate a portion of a patient or workpiece as they operate on the patient or workpiece. At the same time, they require the free use of their hands. Both of these needs are met by illumination assemblies known to the art which are mounted on the user's head or headgear and which illuminate the patient or workpiece. An example of such an apparatus can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,341,513 to Klein et al., which describes a headband whereupon a lamp is mounted.[0004]However, th...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]The illumination assembly of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an illumination assembly comprising a light guide having an output end and an input end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source, a housing having a light guide opening and an illumination opening, the output end of the light guide extending within the housing and being aligned to illuminate the illumination opening, a single optical element within the housing, the optical element being mounted within the illumination opening, and attachment means for removably attaching the housing to headgear.

[0016]Additionally, the illumination assembly of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an illumination assembly comprising a light guide having an output end and an input end, the input end being adapted for connection to a remote illumination source, a housing having a light guide opening and an illumination opening, the output end of the light guide extending within the housing and being aligned to illuminate the illumination opening, a positive lens mounted in the illumination opening, the positive lens having a curved face adjacent the output end and an opposing generally planar face, and attachment means for removably attaching the housing to headgear.

[0017]Further, the illumination assembly of the present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an illumination assembly comprising a housing having an interior surface bounded by a light guide opening and an illumination opening, a housing base telescopically and rotatably engaged to the interior surface of the housing, the housing base being adapted to support a light guide to illuminate the illumination opening, a positive lens mounted in the illumination opening, the positive lens including an aspheric face adjacent the housing base and an opposing generally planar face, and attachment means, pivotably attached to the housing base, for removably attaching the housing base to headgear.

Problems solved by technology

However, there are certain characteristics which are desirable in head-mounted illumination assemblies and which the devices of the prior art fail to either partially or entirely include.

Otherwise, the user's hands, arms, or other objects may obstruct the light path and cast shadows upon the patient or workpiece and increase the difficulty in viewing the patient or workpiece.

Also, dentists and medical personnel often have a need to look into very small holes, such as holes drilled into teeth, and the interior of such holes generally cannot be viewed without direct illumination along the axis of the hole.

These devices have proven to be disadvantageous in that they can create a great deal of heat at a point close to the user's head, especially if high-intensity lightbulbs are used.

These devices can therefore be intensely uncomfortable to wear because they cause hot air to rise into the user's face when the user looks down, they cause perspiration from the user's forehead to drip into the user's eyes (and onto the patient or workpiece), and they can even cause burns to the user or patient when they grow hot enough.

Because the prior art illumination assemblies which mount a light source directly to the user's head are so uncomfortable, many devices instead use a light guide to transmit light from a remotely-located light source.

Many of the prior an illumination assemblies are not very versatile because they are permanently mounted within already existing headgear, such as the illumination devices of Cooley et al. and Price, which show eyeglasses with illumination elements at opposing sides of the eyeglass frames adjacent the support legs.

These devices can neither be used without the associated headgear nor repositioned to illuminate different areas of the patient or workpiece.

Additionally, if an illumination assembly is permanently affixed to headgear such as eyeglasses, headbands, face shields, etc., it is often difficult to use a second type of headgear in conjunction with the first type of headgear and the illumination assembly.

Fourth, since the illumination assembly may become contaminated with particles from the patient or workpiece or fluids splashing therefrom, the illumination assembly should be easy to clean.

The prior art illumination assemblies tend to be quite heavy due to their use of several optical elements (lenses, prisms, mirrors, etc.) and means for mounting these optical elements within the illumination assembly.

Due to the weight of the glass, the addition of even a single additional optical element tends to dramatically increase the weight of an illumination assembly.

Additionally, while the art is beginning to develop plastic lenses of high optical quality and lighter weight than glass lenses, these lenses are not preferred for use at exposed portions of the illumination assembly because they are more easily scratched, scuffed, or otherwise damaged during cleaning.

The weight of the illumination assembly can also create greater problems than discomfort.

It can make a substantial difference in its operability and safety of use, since a heavy illumination assembly can cause headgear to shift or even fall off the head.

This can be disastrous where the user's hands are performing an important medical procedure since the user may be forced to interrupt the procedure to readjust the binoculars, or else simply proceed and perform the procedure with impaired vision.

As another example, when the prior art illumination assemblies are mounted to eyeglasses, they tend to pull the eyeglasses off of the user's head if he or she looks downward.

Many of the prior art illumination assemblies have a large and awkward size, either due to their incorporation of internal illumination sources directly within the assembly or due to the requirements of the optics within the assembly.

Also, large illumination assemblies interfere with the user's binocular vision when mounted coaxially between the user's eyes.

The prior art illumination assemblies are also difficult to use when mounted coaxially, or when mounted to headgear in general, due to their use of bulky and heavy electrical or light guide cords.

These cords can bind and inhibit repositioning of illumination assemblies due to the stiffness of the cords, and they can also interfere with the user's binocular or peripheral vision.

Thick and heavy cords are also uncomfortable to wear when draped over or about the user's head, and they contribute to a feeling that the user is bound or “leashed” to the power supply or remote illumination source.

While the prior art illustrates smaller, lighter cords for supplying power or illumination to illumination assemblies, the smaller and lighter cords have the drawback that they cannot bear as much power or illumination to the illumination assemblies.

Thus, if the user wishes to obtain the advantages of a smaller cord, he or she is generally forced to settle for less illumination.

In particular, the prior art does not include an illumination assembly as described above suitable for attachment to and use with eyeglasses, headbands, or face shields in accompaniment with lenses, loupes, or binoculars associated with the eyeglasses, headbands, or face shields.

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