Process and arrangement for the production of a signal that corresponds to the opening status of the vocal cords of the larynx

• US 20070208225A1
• Filed: 02/22/2007
• Published: 09/06/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ATMOS MedizinTechnik GmbH & Co., KG
• Original Assignee: ATMOS MedizinTechnik GmbH & Co., KG
• Inventors: Czaniera, Juergen
• Granted Patent: US 8,574,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 600/178
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/267 for the respiratory tract, e.g. laryngoscopes, bronchoscopes
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/2673 for monitoring movements of vocal chords
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis by transillumination, diascopy, fluorescence A61B5/0093, A61B5/1455, A61B5/02416 and A61B5/0261 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1107 Measuring contraction of parts of the body, e.g. organ, muscle apparatus for measuring work or force in general G01L

Abstract

An arrangement is described in which an endoscope 3 inserted into the pharynx of the patient B is used to visually examine the vibrations of the vocal cords 2, while using light that contains little or no infrared light. At the same time, an oscillogram of the vibrations of the vocal cords is plotted, showing the sequence of motion of the vocal cords. The latter purpose is served by an emitter 1, which is attached to the throat of the patient B below the vocal cords 2 and which produces light in the near infrared range (NIR). Using a mirror 5 that reflects infrared light, the light modulated by the vibration of vocal cords is coupled out and fed to a sensor 6, which, together with an evaluating unit 9, detects and evaluates the vocal cord signals.

Claims

1. Process for the production of a signal which corresponds to the opening status of the vocal cords of the larynx, in which process the vocal cords are illuminated with a light source and are optically examined with an endoscope, and a signal, the vocal cord signal, which is modulated by the movement of the vocal cords, is displayed and/or recorded,

wherein

the vocal cords are illuminated with light of a wavelength longer than 600 nm, particularly with light in the near-infrared range (NIR light), and the NIR light modulated by the movement of the vocal cords is received by a sensor and is detected, in order to produce a vocal cord signal that can be rendered in visual form, while visible light containing little or no infrared light is simultaneously used to examine the vocal cords.

2. Process according to claim 1,

wherein

the vocal cords are illuminated with light containing little or no infrared light by means of a stroboscopic light source which is triggered by the movement of the vocal cords.

3. Process according to claim 2, wherein the stroboscopic light source is triggered by the vocal cord signal.

4. Arrangement for implementing the process according to claim 1,

wherein

are provided an emitter (1;

11), which is attached to the throat of a patient (B) below the pharynx, in order to illuminate the vocal cords (2;

12) with NIR light, and an endoscope (3), which is inserted into the pharynx of the patient (B) and which serves to receive vocal cord signals, to introduce light containing little or no infrared light, and to examine the vocal cords (2;

12).

5. Arrangement according to claim 4,

wherein

the NIR light is conducted through the optical system of the endoscope (3) and is coupled out and fed to the sensor (6), on the arrangement side containing the the light sources or the camera, specifically by means of a mirror (5;

16) or prism that transmits light containing little or no infrared light, but that reflects NIR light.

6. Arrangement according to claim 5,

wherein

the mirror (5) or prism between the light source (7) and the illumination entranceway (4) of the optical system of the endoscope is so positioned that infrared radiation contained in the light coming from the light source (7) is suppressed by being reflected, while that vocal cord signal fed through the optical system of the endoscope is coupled out by being reflected and is fed to the sensor (1).

7. Arrangement according to claim 5,

wherein

the endoscope is connected to a video camera (20) and the mirror (16), or prism, in the video camera (20) is positioned behind the camera lens (15) and in such a way that the vocal cord signal fed through the optical system of the endoscope is coupled out by being reflected and is fed to the sensor (17), while the visible light is fed to the image sensor (18) of the video camera (20).

8. Arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the sensor for the NIR light is positioned at the distal end (3a) of the endoscope (3).

9. Arrangement according to claim 4,

wherein

the endoscope (3) exhibits an illumination channel (3c), through which light containing little or no infrared light is fed, an image channel (3b), through which the image of the vocal cords (2) is fed to the eyepiece (14) of the endoscope (3), or to the video camera (20), and a sensor channel (3d), through which the vocal cord signals are fed to the sensor.

10. Arrangement according to claim 4, wherein the sensor (6, 17) for receiving the vocal cord signals is reversed with the emitter (1, 11) for producing the NIR light.