Surgery – Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy – Radioactive substance placed within body
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-17
2003-09-09
Huson, Gregory L. (Department: 3751)
Surgery
Radioactive substance applied to body for therapy
Radioactive substance placed within body
C604S057000, C604S059000, C604S060000, C604S062000, C600S003000, C600S008000, C600S001000, C600S002000, C600S104000, C600S108000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06616594
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cartridge that is configured to accept radioactive seeds, to be used in medical treatment of a patient. In particular, the present invention relates to a cartridge that allows for a plurality of radioactive seeds to be stored within the cartridge, and that is adapted to be fitted within a medical instrument to thereby apply one or more of the radioactive seeds to the patient, one at a time.
2. Description of the Related Art
For treating various medical conditions, such as prostate cancer or tumors, certain treatments involve providing radioactive seeds to particular locations within a patient's body. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/763,759, by Steven S. Ravins, Edward Kaplan and Ernest A. Elgin, describes a fiberoptic-guided interstitial seed manual applicator and seed cartridge for applying seeds to a patient. However, that device, as well as other conventional devices, does not allow for a large number of seeds to be inserted into a seed cartridge at the same time, nor do such devices provide a convenient way to determine the remaining number of seeds within the cartridge. Another problem with such conventional devices is that there is no convenient way to test each individual seed within the cartridge to see if each individual seed is still viable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the present invention is to provide a seed cartridge that can hold a plurality of seeds.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a dual-shield cartridge structure to allow for either a normal operation mode, or a calibration or verification mode for seeds within the cartridge structure.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism to readily determine a remaining number of seeds within a cartridge.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a self-contained shielding sufficient for transportation of a cartridge.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3704707 (1972-12-01), Halloran
patent: 4267149 (1981-05-01), Bruckner et al.
patent: 4400170 (1983-08-01), McNaughton et al.
patent: 4451254 (1984-05-01), Dinius et al.
patent: 4474572 (1984-10-01), McNaughton et al.
patent: 4700692 (1987-10-01), Baumgartner
patent: 4838265 (1989-06-01), Cosman et al.
patent: 5242373 (1993-09-01), Scott et al.
patent: 5305203 (1994-04-01), Raab
patent: 5366896 (1994-11-01), Margrey et al.
patent: 5514101 (1996-05-01), Schulz et al.
patent: 5609152 (1997-03-01), Pellegrino et al.
patent: 5860909 (1999-01-01), Mick et al.
patent: 5871448 (1999-02-01), Ellard
patent: 6002859 (1999-12-01), DiGioia, III et al.
patent: 6007474 (1999-12-01), Rydell
patent: 6102844 (2000-08-01), Ravins et al.
patent: 6129670 (2000-10-01), Burdette et al.
patent: 6206832 (2001-03-01), Downey et al.
patent: 6214013 (2001-04-01), Lambrecht et al.
patent: 6270472 (2001-08-01), Antaki et al.
patent: 6387034 (2002-05-01), Lee
patent: 97 22379 (1997-06-01), None
Elgin, III Ernest A.
Fontayne Diego Y.
Kaplan Edward J.
Ravins Steven S.
Ueda Daniel E.
Heller Ehrman White & McAuliffe
Huson Gregory L.
Integrated Implant Systems, L.L.C.
Kokabi Azy
LandOfFree
Cartridge-moveable shield does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cartridge-moveable shield, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cartridge-moveable shield will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3053797