Medical probe with consistent action
A probe for intermittent contacting a patient body with a predetermined speed and force. Initially, the probe is recessed inside the device which is brought in contact with the patient body, while keeping the probe from making a contact with the patient. On a command from an operator or control circuit, the probe is deployed moving toward the patient body surface with a substantially consistent force and rate of motion, thus making a contact in a consistent fashion.
This invention claims the benefit of the U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/727,938 filed Oct. 19, 2005.
FIELD OF INVENTIONThis invention relates to medical probes. More particularly it relates to probes of the intermittent thermometers for detecting temperature from the surface of a patient.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONMedical information may be obtained either from the interior of a body or non-invasively from its exterior. Apart from non-contact devices, a sensing probe is being brought in a physical contact with the biological tissue. Such a probe may incorporate some kind of a sensor. Examples of the sensors include a microphone, measuring gauge, light emitters and detectors and a temperature transducer. In some applications, the probe is attached to the patient body on a continuous basis, while in other applications the probe shall be brought intermittently into a contact with the biological tissue (skin, e.g.) to perform some kind of medical procedure, such as measurement or treatment. It may be important for various reasons (accuracy, consistency, rate of the sensor's response, etc.) to bring the probe in a contact with the patient body in a consistent manner that is substantially independent of the operator training and operation, patient behavior and other uncontrollable or unpredictable factors. In other words, the probe shall move toward the patient body with a relatively pre-defined speed 20 and come in a contact with a predictable force. One example that is given here by way of a reference is a medical probe with an electromagnetic control taught by Warming in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,021. An example of a need to produce a consistent pressure by a probe is a body surface temperature probe of the U.S Patent Application Publication No. US-2005-0043631-A1. This probe may produce too mach of a variability if it is pressed to the skin with 25 a random force thus making an inconsistent thermal contact and modulating the subcutaneous blood perfusion. These factors, in turn, may affect the measured skin temperature. Controlling a rate of the probe deployment toward the skin and the force of a contact is important for such a device.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a means for making a fast and consistent contact between a medical probe and the patient tissue.
Another goal of this invention is to find a way of the probe to be deployed at the moment of forming of a contact between the skin and the medical device.
And another goal of this invention is to develop a method of an intermittent and consistent interaction between the medical probe and the body surface.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONTo make a consistent contact between the probe and surface of a patient body, initially, the sensing probe is recessed inside the device which is brought in contact with the patient body, while keeping the probe from making a contact with the patient. On a command from an operator or internal controller, the probe is deployed and moves toward the patient body surface with a substantially constant force and rate of motion, thus making a contact in a consistent fashion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
An example of a contact temperature probe is shown in
There are several ways of designing the mechanism 14. One example would be use of a solenoid whose core is coupled to probe 9. Other embodiments may include both the electrical and mechanical devices operating with linear and/or rotating motions. The first example of a mechanical embodiment with a manual actuation (
To deploy the probe 9, button 12 is moved in direction indicated by arrow 65. A bump 28 which is part of the button 12 engages with the lever 16 and moves it and subsequently the probe 9 leftward. This causes the spring 20 to compress and tilt toward its unstable position around the support 21. When the spring passes through the unstable position, it quickly snaps toward the second stable position shown in
To return the mechanism back to its stand-by position of
The second embodiment of the probe deploying of the medical device mechanism is shown in
To operate, the outer rim 32 of the guard 30 is pressed against patient body 1 by exerting force onto the frame 33 in a direction 66. This force presses tooth 31 against finger 34 resulting is development of stress in the neck 35. So far, the probe 9 is hidden inside the guard 30 and its sensor 8 is not in contact with patient body 1. When force along direction 66 reaches a specific threshold value, the neck 35 snaps upwardly in direction 38 resulting in decoupling between the finger 34 and tooth 31. The overwhelming force exerted onto the frame 33 of the device moves the entire device (the frame and housing with all internal components) to the left as shown in
A third embodiment of the medical device mechanism 14 that illustrates how the probe deployment can be initiated by a contact between the patient and the probe is illustrated in
When the skin 1 moves toward the outer rim 32 of the guard 41 (or vice versa—the guard moves toward the skin) in a direction 47 (
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and, therefore, the aim in the appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
Claims
1. A medical device for contacting the patient body surface with a predetermined force, comprising:
- a housing,
- a guard supported by said housing and having an outer rim that comes in contact with the patient body surface,
- a probe located near the guard and capable of motion toward the patient body surface,
- an actuation mechanism for causing motion of said probe.
2. A medical device of claim 1 where said guard is capable of motion with respect to said housing.
3. A medical device of claim 1 further comprises a switch being actuated cooperatively with motion of the probe.
4. A medical device of claim 1 wherein said probe is capable of a motion from being in a first position of not contacting the patient body surface to the second position of contacting the patient body surface.
5. A medical device of claim 1 wherein said actuation mechanism comprises at least one spring.
6. A method of deploying a medical probe to and engaging with the patient body surface consisting of steps:
- positioning the probe in proximity of the guard,
- locating the probe in a first position that prevents the probe from making contact with the patient body surface,
- placing the guard on a patient body surface,
- moving the probe from said first position to the second position that allows the probe of making a contact with the patient body surface.
7. A method of deploying a medical probe of claim 6 includes a further step of actuating a switch cooperatively with said moving of the probe.
8. A method of deploying a medical probe of claim 6 includes a further step of moving the probe to the first position after the probe was moved to the second position.
9. A method of deploying a medical probe of claim 6 where moving of the probe from said first position to the second position is caused by said placing the guard on a patient body surface.
Type: Application
Filed: Sep 29, 2006
Publication Date: Aug 2, 2007
Inventor: Jacob Fraden (San Diego, CA)
Application Number: 11/529,000
International Classification: A61B 5/00 (20060101);