Needle Electrode Impedance Bridge for Tissue Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical devices with needle electrodes face challenges in accurately determining the tissue type at the needle tip location, leading to potential misplacement of the needle in procedures such as biopsies or therapeutic interventions due to inaccurate visual inspections and calibration errors in imaging techniques.
Innovation Solution
A medical device equipped with an instrument head featuring two or more electrodes on the needle, coupled with an impedance bridge and a processor, which records impedance measurements at various frequencies to compare with characteristic tissue types, enabling precise determination of tissue types at the needle tip location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If visual inspection or imaging techniques are used to determine tissue type at needle tip location, then the procedure can be performed with conventional equipment, but the accuracy of tissue type determination is insufficient leading to potential misplacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces visual inspection and imaging-based tissue identification methods with electrical impedance measurement. Electrodes on the needle measure impedance characteristics of the tissue, providing a more accurate and direct method for determining tissue type at the needle tip location, thereby improving both measurement precision and needle placement reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces electrical impedance as an intermediary parameter to indirectly determine tissue type. Instead of directly visualizing or imaging the tissue, the system uses impedance measurements taken by electrodes on the needle as a mediator to identify tissue characteristics, enabling more accurate tissue type determination without relying on flawed visual or imaging methods.
2Ease of operation
If calibration processes are performed to position the needle at the target location, then the needle can be guided to the expected location, but calibration errors produce errors in determining correct needle positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables the needle to self-verify its tissue location through impedance measurements taken directly at the needle tip. Instead of relying on external calibration processes that introduce errors, the system allows the needle itself to determine tissue type through electrical measurements, providing direct feedback on actual needle positioning without calibration-related inaccuracies.
3Loss of information
If medical scans are used to map the patient's body and guide needle placement, then the target tissue location can be identified, but physiological changes between scanning and procedure can change the tissue type at the target location
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs tissue type determination at the moment of needle insertion and during the procedure itself, rather than relying on preliminary scans taken earlier. By measuring impedance characteristics in real-time at the needle tip, the system captures the actual current state of the tissue, accounting for any physiological changes that may have occurred between scanning and procedure.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device ensures accurate placement of the needle by determining the tissue type before or during procedures, reducing the risk of applying treatments to incorrect tissue types and enhancing the reliability of medical interventions like tissue sampling or drug delivery.
Implementation Method 1
an impedance bridge coupled to the two or more electrodes; and a processor coupled to the impedance bridge
Data Source
AI summary
In various embodiments, a medical device includes an instrument head that includes a needle and two or more electrodes disposed on the needle; an impedance bridge coupled to the two or more electrodes; and a processor coupled to the impedance bridge. In various embodiments, a method for determining one or more tissue types present at a location associated with a needle of a medical device comprises recording, at one or more frequencies, one or more impedance measurements, wherein each impedance measurement is associated with two or more electrodes disposed on the needle of an instrument head of the medical device; comparing the one or more impedance measurements to one or more characteristic impedances associated with one or more tissue types; and determining, based on the one or more impedance measurements and the one or more characteristic impedances, one or more tissue types at the location associated with the needle.