ILLUMINATED TELESCOPING CANNULA
The illumination system described below comprises an arthroscope, endoscope or other suitable surgical tool and an attachable cannula comprising a transparent or semi-transparent material capable of carrying light from the proximal end of the cannula to the distal end of the cannula, thereby illuminating the surgical field. The surgical field is thus illuminated through components that do not occupy space that may otherwise be used for the optics of the arthroscope. The arthroscopic illumination system further comprises one or more illumination sources disposed at the proximal end of the cannula. The illumination source may be optically coupled with the cannula at the hub or other appropriate location. The cannula comprises a sterilizable polymer which functions as a waveguide. A waveguide is a material medium that confines and guides light. When in use, the light source connected to the hub provides light which may be guided to the distal end of the cannula or any other suitable location. Thus, the sheath provides structure-guided illumination resulting in the illumination of the surgical site.
The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/384,821 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.309) filed Dec. 20, 2016, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/635,996 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.305), filed Mar. 2, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/188,055 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.502) filed Aug. 7, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No. 9,005,115, which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/715,247 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.501) filed Mar. 6, 2007 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,901,353 which is a continuation in part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/397,446 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.201) filed Apr. 3, 2006 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,510,524 which is a non-provisional of, and claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Nos. 60/724,717 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-706.101) filed Oct. 7, 2005, and 60/668,442 (Attorney Docket No. 40556-705.101) filed Apr. 4, 2005; the entire contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONSThe present invention relates generally to the field of surgical illumination and more specifically to surgical cannulas providing illumination.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONCurrently optical fiber illumination elements such as element 12 shown in
Another significant challenge in many conventionally illuminated procedures is cable management. There may be many cables typically present in the sterile field: camera cable, fiber optic cable, irrigation and suction, etc. Since the optical fiber cable has the largest diameter it typically is the heaviest cable. One of the challenges that face surgeons using illuminated tools is constant rotation of the illuminated tool to view different orientation angles. When an illuminated tool is rotated, the fiber optic cable is forced to rotate around with the tool, thus causing interference. These issues become even more important during arthroscopic surgery. Since the optical fiber cable is heavy, it will actually rotate the endoscope, often forcing the surgeon to keep one of their hands on the fiber optic cable to prevent unwanted spinning of the endoscope.
The illumination fiber also occupies space inside an illuminated tool, an endoscope or other surgical implement. By allocating space to optical fiber illumination, the diameter of optics may be limited to maintain the smallest overall tool size.
Typical coupling surfaces to a fiber optic cable are circular, mainly because the fiber cable itself is made with circularly bundled fibers. The problem is accounting for the various sizes of fiber bundles (e.g., 3.0 mm, 3.5 mm, 4 mm, 5 mm diameter bundles are common) to which a light conducting or light guiding device, also called a waveguide device, may be coupled in order to optimize coupling efficiency. Light that is not coupled from the fiber into the waveguide is lost light that cannot be used for illumination. In addition, this lost light may have infrared components that contribute to heating of the coupling connectors, which are typically metal in fiber optic cables. This heating may be significant enough to cause minor to major burns.
SUMMARYAn illuminated cannula port combines an illuminated waveguide cannula be formed to have thin walls with a thin walled cannula sleeve of metal or other suitable material to achieve tissue retraction to create a surgical site and deliver illumination to the surgical site from the bottom of the waveguide cannula within the cannula sleeve. The cannula sleeve may be longer than the waveguide cannula. The waveguide cannula and the cannula sleeve are separate pieces and are free to move relative to each other to provide a wide range of cannula port lengths using the relative telescoping movement between the waveguide cannula and the cannula sleeve.
The waveguide sleeve may have many different geometries as, for example, a right circular cylinder, or the bottom edge may have any suitable angle relative to the axis of the sleeve bore to prevent tissue creep. The ability to move the waveguide cannula and the cannula sleeve relative to each other enables a surgeon to move the sleeve to accommodate tissue requirements without the need to move the illumination cable and the waveguide cannula. Similarly, if the surgeons light needs vary during the surgery, it is possible to move the illumination cable and the waveguide cannula without changing the position of the cannula sleeve.
An illuminated waveguide cannula as a single unit that may be molded into custom shapes and or made single use disposable. If the waveguide is single use and sold sterile, it will be brand new for every application, so if any damage occurs during a procedure, the waveguide may be easily replaced and may be discarded after a procedure.
A surgical illumination system according to the present disclosure may include a generally cylindrical light waveguide having a bore sized to accommodate one or more surgical instruments, an illumination source, an illumination conduit for conducting illumination energy from the illumination source, and an adapter ring for engaging the illumination conduit and coupling illumination energy from the illumination conduit to the light waveguide, the adapter ring permitting relative movement between the illumination conduit and the light waveguide.
A surgical illumination system may also include an illumination source, a generally cylindrical light waveguide having a distal end and a proximal end and a bore sized to accommodate one or more instruments or tools extending from the proximal end through the distal end, the waveguide conducting illumination energy from the proximal end to the distal end and projecting the illumination energy from the distal end, and an illumination conduit for conducting illumination energy from the illumination source to the proximal end of the light waveguide. A secondary cannula may be combined with the waveguide cannula to provide mechanical retraction and enable the waveguide cannula to be rotated relative to the secondary cannula as well as providing adjustable depth.
Since multiple ports are commonly used in endoscopy and, typically, a cannula or trocar is placed at each port, one or more of the port cannulas or port trocars could be a waveguide designed to spread light in the desired direction in one embodiment. Use of illuminated cannula or waveguides enables the light to shine circumferentially from the port cannula or can make it shine in a particular direction from the port cannula. The intensity of light may be adjusted circumferentially to maximize shadow creation, for example, by concentrating extraction structures along a particular arc of the port cannula and using less concentrated extraction structures along another arc and having no structures on the remaining arc, or using less concentrated structures along the remaining arc. Directionality can be simply controlled by rotating the port cannula to shine the higher intensity light to maximize shadowing. Another option is to put a rotatable reflector or director partially around the waveguide or otherwise adjustably engaged with the waveguide. Light from the waveguide, e.g., a waveguide producing light circumferentially, is reflected and or directed by this reflector/director, e.g., a mirror-polished metal or plastic component or a component with a reflective film, in a particular direction. The user merely rotates the reflector/director rather than rotating the waveguide itself, which may be cumbersome with a fiber optic cable attached to the waveguide.
In another configuration, a small “chandelier” waveguide may be placed vertically or at a particular angular orientation to the interior work surface using a very small puncture wound that is separate from the main surgical ports. This chandelier waveguide may provide circumferential or directed light and may include a secondary reflector/director as described above. The waveguide may be protected during insertion by using an introducer that goes over the waveguide, said introducer having a sufficiently sharp point to create the wound or the surgeon creates a small wound for the introducer to go into. Once the introducer and waveguide are in place, the introducer is slid back up the waveguide to expose the light extraction structures. This can be accomplished, for example, by creating the point of the introducer out of a set of radial splines that are curved and shaped to form a point or blunt tip for insertion into the wound. Once in place, the introducer is pulled out and the splines spread out over the waveguide. Alternatively, the introducer and reflector/director are the same component and remain in place after insertion into the wound to provide directional light control. Output from the chandelier waveguide may be combined with light from instrument ports that are also designed as waveguide devices, or themselves may use the waveguide ports.
The surgical illumination systems may also be distributed pre-sterilized along with one or more generally used instruments and accessory parts that may be used by most surgeons. Thus a sterile waveguide may be supplied for a surgery and discarded after use minimizing parts to be reused, inventoried and resterilized.
These and other features and advantages will become further apparent from the detailed description and accompanying figures that follow. In the figures and description, numerals indicate the various features of the disclosure, like numerals referring to like features throughout both the drawings and the description.
The novel features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present invention will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments, in which the principles of the invention are utilized, and the accompanying drawings of which:
The following disclosure generally refers to an optical waveguide and associated elements for conduction of light. This discussion is for example and the following disclosure may also be suitable for any electromagnetic radiation. The cross-sections illustrated are generally circular and may also adopt any suitable geometry.
Referring now to
Surgical devices such as endoscope 18 may be made without an illumination element and thus aperture 20 may be increased without increasing overall dimension 13 compared to dimension 11 of the device of
Referring now to
Referring now to
Using separate light conducting elements such as light path elements 24 may permit selective illumination through a waveguide sheath as well as provide multiple illumination paths for illumination having different characteristics such as polarization, wavelength or intensity. Each light path element may include microstructures, facets, lenses or other suitable treatment on distal face 24A.
In
Referring now to
An illumination source is operably coupled to the hub 56 and placed in optical communication with the cannula sheath 55. The illumination source comprises one or more LEDs 64 (light emitting diodes), a power source 66, a conductor 68 electrically connecting the power source and the LED, an LED control circuit 65 and switch 67. The LED is preferably a white-light LED, which provides a bright, white light. The power source may be provided in any form such as a power outlet or a lithium ion polymer battery. When the illumination source is illuminated, light from the illumination source propagates through the cannula sheath by means of total internal reflection, illuminating the distal end 69 of the cannula sheath. Light is not emitted, nor does it leak out of the outer diameter surface of the sleeve until the light reaches designated extraction structures. The outer surfaces of the sleeve may be provided with metallic or other suitable coating to help prevent light leakage while assisting with total internal reflection. The distal end of the sleeve may be provided with a microstructure, optical component or a diffuse finish. Based on the desired optical output, a molded component or custom finish may be applied to filter or shape the light exiting the sheath.
Alternatively, the illumination source may comprise a conventional fiber light cable operably connected to the hub. The illumination source may be placed in optical communication with the sheath through optical coupling lenses disposed on the proximal end of sleeve 61 within hub 56.
Referring now to
A notch, groove or other suitable indentation such as u-shaped notch 82 may be provided in proximal end 84 of an optical waveguide to engage a light conduit such as plastic rod 78. The shape of notch 82 may be selected to optimize light coupling between the light conduit and the optical waveguide. One or more structures such as reflectors 73 and or facet 86 may be included in any suitable location of an optical waveguide to spread the input light throughout the waveguide and or reflect light into bore 88 or out of the optical waveguide into areas surrounding the waveguide. Light generally exits optical waveguide through illumination surface 89. One or more light splitting prisms such as prisms 73 may be added to a waveguide or to a coupling such as coupling 81 of
Referring now to
Distal end 83 as shown in
Facets may be used on the inside surface of the waveguide, but if waveguide material is removed to form the facets, the shape of the waveguide may be changed to maintain the internal diameter of the bore generally constant to prevent formation of a gap is between the waveguide and a dilator tube used to insert the waveguide into the body. Said gap may trap tissue, thereby damaging it during insertion into the body or causing the waveguide to be difficult to insert. Thus the outer wall of the waveguide may appear to narrow to close this gap and prevent the problems noted.
Alternatively, optical waveguide 90 as illustrated in
Surgical illumination system 100 may include optical waveguide 96 and light adapter 98. Distal end 99 of light adapter 98 may have any suitable shape as illustrated in
Alternatively, light adapter 98 may extend through optical waveguide 96 such that lenses such as lenses 102, 104, 106 and or 108 directly illuminate bore 105 and or the surgical site.
An optical waveguide may also be used with any suitable end cap engaging the distal end of the optical waveguide. The end cap may or may not be used to modify or reflect the illumination energy. Similarly, shims may be used within the optical waveguide to orient any tool or tools within the waveguide and the shims may or may not conduct or modify the illumination energy.
Referring now to
The bifurcated ends 122A and 122B of input 122 preferably enter tube wall 123 at an angle 124 to start directing light around the tube wall. Alternatively, the bifurcated ends 122A and 122B may each enter tube wall 123 at different angles to further control light distribution. The bifurcated ends may enter the tube wall orthogonally, but this may require a prism structure in the wall placed between the input and the output with the apex of the prism pointed at the input. The prism structure directs the light around the tube wall. A vertical prism structure, prism 126 is shown with apex 126A of the prism pointed in toward the center of the tube. Prism structure 126 may direct a portion of the input light back underneath the inputs and contributes to directing light all the way around the tube wall. The position, angle and size of this prism relative to the input bifurcated end determines how much light continues in the tube wall in its primary direction and how much light is reflected in the opposite direction in the tube wall.
Additional vertical prism structures or light disruption structures may be placed toward the bottom of the tube on the outside tube wall as shown in
Referring now to
It has been demonstrated that a clear waveguide cannula provides improved visualization of the entire surgical workspace because the surgeon can see the layers of tissue through the walls, thereby enhancing the surgeon's sense of depth and position, which are difficult to determine in an opaque cannula. Light exiting the side walls at the areas of tissue contact, due to changes in total internal reflection at these contact areas, serves to illuminate these tissues making them more visible than if a non-illuminated, non-waveguide clear plastic cannula is used. Alternatively, extraction structures 138 or 141 may extend all the way down to bottom edge 140B.
Referring now to
Illuminated cannula 150 of
Circumferential light extraction structures such as structures 154 may be facets or may be other geometries, such as parabolas. Circumferential light extraction structures coupled with light directing structures that provide circumferentially distributed light to the extraction structures provide circumferential illumination. Since tools entering the interior of the tube now have light shining on them from all sides, the tools do not cast any shadows within the cone of illumination emitted by the cannula. The circumferential illumination from a cylindrical waveguide creates a generally uniform cone of light that minimizes shadows, e.g., from instruments, creating substantially shadowless illumination in the surgical field below the tubular waveguide.
Cannula 150 of
Reflector surface 158 may be treated, e.g., a reflective or metalized coating or an applied reflective film, to enhance reflection.
Air gaps may be used to isolate the light-conducting pathway in any suitable connector. Waveguide 150 of
Referring now to
Small filters such as debris filter 172 may be included in or near suction input 168 to block debris. The lower suction opening, input 168, is preferred to be as close to distal end 170D of illuminated waveguide 170 as practical, while not interfering with the optical structures, in order to evacuate smoke from electrocautery as soon as possible. Multiple suction openings may be provided along the vertical channel of the suction section, but these ports should be sized differently, smallest at the top and largest at the bottom so that there is sufficient suction at the bottom port. The suction ports and channel should be designed to minimize turbulence that contributes to noise. Multiple suction structures may be provided. A shelf in clamp flange/holder may help secure suction tubing to suction source. Suction tubing 167 or suction structure 166 in tube 170 may also include one or more air filters 173, e.g., charcoal filters, to remove the smell of the smoke and or other airborne impurities.
Referring now to
These devices are governed by an equation that relates input and output area to the numerical aperture of the light entering and exiting the CPC or taper device. Specifically, the area times the numerical aperture of the input must equal the area times the numerical aperture of the output. This means that in going from a larger area input such as input 182 to a smaller area output such as output 183 to inject light into the waveguide, the numerical aperture at the output will increase thereby increasing the angles of the light entering the waveguide. Larger light angles are more difficult to control inside of the waveguide, resulting in greater light loss in the waveguide and increasing design complexity and cost. Thus, the numerical aperture of an input coupling such as coupling 180 or 186 should match or be less than the numerical aperture of the waveguide. Any other suitable method may be employed for enhancing light coupling efficiency to a fiber bundle cable while preserving etendue.
Input 188 of optical taper coupling 186 of
Alternatively, light input 196 may engage sidewall 195 of waveguide 194 as illustrated in
In the cutaway view of
Waveguide 210 of
Waveguide 230 in
Illuminated retractors such as cannula, waveguides, tubes and or sheaths may also benefit from extendable skirts or segments to prevent tissue encroaching on a surgical site. The extendable elements may also include interface surfaces to introduce light into the elements to enhance surgical site illumination and or provide off axis illumination to enhance shadows for better depth perception and tissue discrimination.
Combination cannula 240 includes waveguide cannula 242 and cannula sleeve 244 as illustrated in
The illuminated retractors as discussed above may also be made extendable or telescoping to enable a varying depths of surgery with a single thus device minimizing hospital inventory. The illuminating cannulas discussed may also be formed as an illuminating drill guide, either as a tube or as two half tubes, that may be used to hold and guide drill or burr tip while also providing illumination of the area being worked on.
An optical waveguide may also operate as a cannula providing irrigation, suction, ventilation or other suitable services for medical applications. Suction may be provided via one or more passages within the structure of the waveguide or cannula. The suction paths or passages may also include any suitable filter media such as charcoal.
An optical waveguide may provide illumination and at the same time perform as a surgical instrument. Other than rigid endoscopes, devices such as trocars, obturators, retractors, may all be made from waveguide material. Devices, such as laryngoscope blades can be made out of waveguide material and thus be self illuminating thus eliminating any need for fiber optics. Use of one or more illumination sources above a surgical field inside the body may provide suitable illumination to generate shadows from the surgical instruments and thus provide visual feedback for the surgeons regarding instrument orientation and improved tissue discrimination.
An optical waveguide may also include one or more coupling lenses may be used to couple light into the optical waveguide. The lenses or other suitable structure may adopt any suitable geometry such as for example spherical, cylindrical, aspherical and or non-symmetrical geometries. If a light source having a wide output angle such as one or more LEDs is used, a more complex lens system such as an asphere may be used to optimize light coupling.
One or more faces of an optical waveguide may include a predetermined micro structured pattern. Different optical light output shapes or light output directions may be achieved by creating specific structured surfaces or patterns. It is also possible to specify microstructured surfaces to deflect light as well as focus it into a particular shape. One or more microstructures may be applied to the back and or the front of a refractive element to deflect the beam as well as shape it. Microstructure surfaces may also be combined with one or more air gaps and or conventional surface shaping to achieve desired optical performance. Optical fiber typically has a highly Gaussian output distribution that creates a small, bright spot of light that may not be suitable for visualization of a broad surgical area. The implementation of microstructures may create a broader, more uniform distribution of light thereby allowing comfortable viewing of a broader surgical area.
One or more surfaces in an optical waveguide sheath or adapters or connectors may be polarized using any suitable technique such as micro-optic structure, thin film coating or other. Use of polarized light in a surgical environment may provide superior illumination and coupled with the use of complementary polarized coatings on viewing devices such as cameras or surgeon's glasses may reduce reflected glare providing less visual distortion and more accurate color rendering of the surgical site. One or more surfaces of an optical waveguide sheath may also include light filtering elements to emit light of one or more frequencies that may enhance visualization of specific tissues.
Thus, while the preferred embodiments of the devices and methods have been described in reference to the environment in which they were developed, they are merely illustrative of the principles of the inventions. Other embodiments and configurations may be devised without departing from the spirit of the inventions and the scope of the appended claims.
Claims
1-17. (canceled)
18. A surgical illumination system, comprising:
- a surgical instrument having an outer wall;
- an optical waveguide formed of a single generally uniform element without optical fibers, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to transmit light using total internal reflection, wherein the optical waveguide comprises an inner surface and outer surface, wherein the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide are arranged such that the inner surface of the optical waveguide faces the outer wall of the surgical instrument; and
- a plurality of optical structures at a distal end of the optical waveguide, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise at least one optical structure selected from a group consisting of: one or more facets, one or more microstructures, and one or more prisms.
19. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, wherein the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide are arranged such that an air gap is defined between the inner surface of the optical waveguide and the outer wall of the surgical instrument.
20. The surgical illumination system of claim 19, wherein the optical waveguide comprises a structural element that extends between the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide.
21. The surgical illumination system of claim 20, wherein the structural element comprises at least on element selected from a group consisting of: one or more gussets and one or more ribs.
22. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, wherein the optical waveguide comprises a film on the outer surface of the optical waveguide, and wherein the film is configured to enhance the total internal reflection.
23. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, further comprising a plurality of optical fibers configured to transmit light from a light source to a proximal end of the optical waveguide.
24. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise the one or more facets.
25. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise the one or more microstructures.
26. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, further comprising an illumination source configured to generate the light that is transmitted by the optical waveguide.
27. The surgical illumination system of claim 26, wherein the illumination source is separate from the surgical instrument.
28. The surgical illumination system of claim 18, wherein the surgical instrument is at least one instrument selected from among a group of instruments consisting of: a drill, a burr, and an endoscope.
29. A method of illuminating a surgical field, comprising:
- providing a surgical illumination system comprising: a surgical instrument having an outer wall; an optical waveguide formed of a single generally uniform element without optical fibers, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to transmit light using total internal reflection, wherein the optical waveguide comprises an inner surface and outer surface, wherein the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide are arranged such that the inner surface of the optical waveguide faces the outer wall of the surgical instrument; and a plurality of optical structures at a distal end of the optical waveguide, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise at least one optical structure selected from a group consisting of: one or more facets, one or more microstructures, and one or more prisms
- coupling the optical waveguide of the surgical illumination system to an illumination source;
- generating light using the illumination source;
- transmitting the light from a proximal end of the optical waveguide to the distal end of the optical waveguide; and
- transmitting, using the plurality of optical structures, the light from the distal end of the optical waveguide to a surgical field.
30. The method of claim 29, wherein the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide are arranged such that an air gap is defined between the inner surface of the optical waveguide and the outer wall of the surgical instrument.
31. The method of claim 30, wherein the optical waveguide comprises a structural element that extends between the surgical instrument and the optical waveguide.
32. The method of claim 31, wherein the structural element comprises at least on element selected from a group consisting of: one or more gussets and one or more ribs.
33. The method of claim 29, wherein the optical waveguide comprises a film on the outer surface of the optical waveguide, and wherein the film is configured to enhance the total internal reflection.
34. The method of claim 29, wherein coupling the optical waveguide of the surgical illumination system to the illumination source comprises coupling the proximal end of the optical waveguide to the illumination source via a plurality of optical fibers.
35. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise the one or more facets.
36. The method of claim 29, wherein the plurality of optical structures comprise the one or more microstructures.
37. The method of claim 29, wherein the surgical instrument is at least one instrument selected from among a group of instruments consisting of: a drill, a burr, and an endoscope.
Type: Application
Filed: Jun 24, 2020
Publication Date: Oct 15, 2020
Inventors: Alex Vayser (Mission Viejo, CA), Kenneth B. Trauner (San Francisco, CA), Jonathan G. Gasson (Novato, CA), Thomas L. Grey (San Marcos, CA)
Application Number: 16/911,364