Surgical Vessel Size Detection via Optical Sensor Array
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical methods lack accurate and real-time detection of blood vessel size during minimally-invasive procedures, leading to potential vascular damage and increased surgical costs, as they rely on tactile sensation and often require contrast agents, which can be risky and increase procedural complexity.
Innovation Solution
A surgical system with a light emitter and sensor array at the surgical instrument's working end, using pulsatile and non-pulsatile light components to determine vessel size without contrast agents, allowing for real-time analysis and minimizing vascular injury risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If tactile sensation is used to identify blood vessels during minimally-invasive surgery, then the surgical procedure can be performed, but accurate detection of vessel size is lost and vascular damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical tactile sensation system with an optical detection system. Light emitters transmit light through tissue and sensors detect the transmitted light, allowing non-contact measurement of vessel size and characteristics. This substitution enables accurate vessel detection without relying on the surgeon's tactile feedback, directly resolving the contradiction between maintaining surgical capability and improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces light as an intermediary medium to detect vessel characteristics. Instead of direct contact or visual inspection, light emitters and sensors act as intermediaries that transmit information about vessel size and location to the surgical system, enabling indirect but accurate measurement without compromising surgical reliability.
2Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If contrast agents are used to identify vasculature, then vessel detection capability is improved, but procedural complexity increases and patient risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the detection function from the contrast agent approach and implements it through the optical system. By removing the need for contrast agents entirely, the system simplifies the procedure while maintaining or improving detection capability. The optical sensors directly detect vessel characteristics through light transmission without requiring additional substances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables the tissue and vessels to serve their own detection function through their natural optical properties. Blood and tissue have inherent light absorption and transmission characteristics that can be measured directly, eliminating the need for external contrast agents. The system uses the body's own properties to provide detection information.
3Productivity
If real-time vessel analysis is implemented, then surgical precision is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a multi-functional optical system that performs multiple detection tasks simultaneously. The same light emitter and sensor array used for vessel detection also provide information about tissue characteristics, vessel size, and location. This universal approach enables real-time analysis without proportionally increasing system complexity, as one system serves multiple surgical detection needs.
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
Enables accurate and timely detection of blood vessel size, reducing the risk of vascular damage and associated costs by providing real-time information without the need for contrast agents, thus improving surgical precision and safety.
Implementation Method 1
the light transmitted to a sensor array
Implementation Method 2
based on the light transmittance as determined by the light sensor
Implementation Method 3
an array of light sensors disposed at the working end of the surgical instrument opposite the at least one light emitter
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical system includes at least one light emitter generating light at a first intensity and an array of light sensors including a least one row of light sensors, individual light sensors in the row of light sensors adapted to generate a signal including a non-pulsatile component. The system also includes a controller coupled to the array of light sensors, the controller including an analyzer to determine the magnitudes of the non-pulsatile components at the individual light sensors in the row of light sensors, to determine if the non-pulsatile component transitions from a higher magnitude to a lower magnitude and from a lower magnitude to a higher magnitude, and if so, to determine if the first intensity should be changed to a second intensity.