Surgery – Truss – Pad
Patent
1991-03-21
1994-08-16
Sykes, Angela D.
Surgery
Truss
Pad
128642, A61B 500
Patent
active
053377460
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
This invention relates to the measurement of oxygen tension or partial pressure in human or animal tissue in-vivo. It is well known that effective healing after surgical procedures depends largely on the oxygen partial pressure within the tissues and it is also known that this oxygen "tension" can be measured or detected by means of an electrode assembly coupled to an electrical circuit which provides an indication of the electrical potential between electrodes.
These measurements are particularly important, for example, in connection with colonic anastomotic leakage which is believed often to follow from inadequate blood supply and it is an object of the invention to provide improved apparatus and procedures for checking whether adequate levels of oxygen are available at different sites in the body tissues.
According to one aspect of this invention there is provided a sensor for use in detecting variable characteristics of a living body in-vivo, comprising an electrode assembly designed to be introduced into the body, and having at least one exposed electrode coupled to a detecting or measuring circuit, and means for warming the electrode in use, by means of an electrical heater in proximity to and embedded in a synthetic plastic body of the electrode assembly, and a thermistor or other temperature sensing device acting as an automatic temperature control, the same heater also being connectable with an alternative control circuit designed to raise the temperature of the heater well above routine warming temperatures so as to "cure" the body of plastic material during manufacture.
The sensor preferably includes special controls with safety devices to prevent the heater exceeding a dangerous temperature in normal use.
From another aspect the invention consists in a sensor for use in detecting variable characteristics of a living body in-vivo, comprising an electrode assembly designed to be introduced into the body, and having at least one exposed electrode coupled to a detecting or measuring circuit, and means for warming the electrode in use, by means of an electrical heater in proximity to the electrode and embedded in a synthetic plastic body, and a thermistor or other temperature sensing device acting as an automatic temperature control, the electrode being in the form of a thin walled tube embedded in the synthetic plastics material, with the heater and/or the thermal sensing element located on or closely adjacent to the tube.
Preferably the diameter of the tube is approximately half the diameter of the plastics body. This places the heater and temperature sensor at approximately equal distances from all points throughout the body.
The invention also consists in a method of detecting the condition of internal tissues in-vivo, by sensing the oxygen partial pressure, using an oxygen sensing electrode assembly coupled to an electrical detecting/measuring circuit, in which the measuring circuit is designed and/or adjusted to be responsive to any one or all of the following conditions: reading (average) at the same site
For practising this procedure the invention also provides an electrical instrument for use in medical, surgical and clinical procedures, including an operating "head" designed for application to a part of the body in-vivo, and capable of being sterilised, means for connecting the head to a remote electrical detecting/measuring/recording/display device, which is not designed for sterilisation, and a portable control unit, designed for sterilisation, and having electrical connections to the head and to the remote device.
Preferably the arrangement is such as to allow the portable control unit to be located physically adjacent to the head.
The invention may be performed in various ways and one specific embodiment, with some possible modifications, will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of an electrode assembly head according to the invention;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a detachable control un
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patent: 3504664 (1970-04-01), Haddad
patent: 4334541 (1982-06-01), Leist et al.
patent: 4534355 (1985-08-01), Potter
patent: 4685465 (1987-08-01), Klitgaard et al.
patent: 4805122 (1989-02-01), McDavid et al.
patent: 4930506 (1990-06-01), Ullrich
patent: 4995391 (1991-02-01), Jensen et al.
Lowndes Richard H.
Young Howard L.
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