Scanned laser vein contrast enhancer
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A miniature vein enhancer comprising:
- a source of laser light a movable mirror that receives a beam of laser light from said source of laser light, said mirror transmitting said beam of laser light onto a target area as said mirror moves thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is a Miniature Vein Enhancer that includes a Miniature Projection Head. The Miniature Projection Head may be operated in one of three modes, AFM, DBM, and RTM. The Miniature Projection Head of the present invention projects an image of the veins of a patient, which aids the practitioner in pinpointing a vein for an intravenous drip, blood test, and the like. The Miniature projection head may have a cavity for a power source or it may have a power source located in a body portion of the Miniature Vein Enhancer. The Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to one of several improved needle protectors, or the Miniature Vein Enhancer may be attached to a body similar to a flashlight for hand held use. The Miniature Vein Enhancer of the present invention may also be attached to a magnifying glass, a flat panel display, and the like.
151 Citations
136 Claims
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1. A miniature vein enhancer comprising:
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a source of laser light a movable mirror that receives a beam of laser light from said source of laser light, said mirror transmitting said beam of laser light onto a target area as said mirror moves thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 59, 60, 61, 62, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 129, 130, 131)
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- 19. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light, a mirror that receives a beam of laser light from said source of laser light, said mirror transmitting said beam of laser light onto a target area such that there is a contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding area.
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37. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a first source of laser light, a second source of laser light, a polarizing element that polarizes said first source of polarizing light to a first orientation as said laser light from said first source passes through said polarizing element and said laser light from said second source of laser light reflecting off said polarizing element at a second polarized angle, laser light from said first and second sources being caused to become coaxial by said polarizing element thereby creating a pattern of light on a target area, such pattern of light on said target area creating a contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
- 38. The miniature vein enhancer comprising a plurality of sources of laser light, a movable mirror that is movable in a single axis that receives beams of laser light from said source of laser light, said mirror transmitting said beams of laser light onto a target area as said mirror moves thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
- 45. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a plurality of sources of LED light, a movable mirror that is movable in a single axis that receives beams of LED light from said sources of LED light, said mirror transmitting said beams of LED light onto a target area as said mirror moves thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
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51. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light
a diffraction grating that receives a beam of laser light from said source of laser light, said beam of laser passing through said diffraction grating and onto a grating light valve, said beam of laser light being reflected off of said light valve onto a moving mirror and reflected onto a target area thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area, such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding area.
- 56. The miniature vein enhancer according to claim 56 wherein said beam of laser light is visible light.
- 63. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light, a beam steering assembly that receives said beam of laser light, said beam steering assembly transmitting said beam of laser light onto a target area, thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding area.
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74. A miniature vein enhancer comprising
a LED, said LED projecting a beam of light onto one or more lenses, said lenses having a focal length so that light from said lens converges at a point at a selected distance from a target area and creates a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel at the surrounding skin area.
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86. An illumination apparatus which alters the visual contrast between bright and dark areas of an object as sensed by a direct observer of the object, the apparatus comprising:
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a light source, said light source passing through one or more computer controllable focusing lens which illuminates the object with source light having a first property;
a video imaging means which measures source light reflected from the object, the reflected light measured in the form of an image, said video imaging means creating a video output signal representative of the image;
a video projector which receives the video output signal from said video imaging means and projects video projector light having a second property onto the object, forming a visual image which is representative of the visual image received by said video imaging means, such that the visual image projected by said video projector illuminates the object from the same perspective that said video imaging means views the object, whereby the features of the projected visual image overlay the corresponding features of the object; and
a filter which distinguishes between the first and second properties and prevents the video projector light from reaching said video imaging means while allowing the source light, reflected from the object, to reach said video imaging means, thus eliminating positive feedback which would degrade the desired visual effect. - View Dependent Claims (87)
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88. An imaging system for viewing body tissue under infrared illumination to enhance visibility of subcutaneous blood vessels, the system comprising:
means for illuminating the body tissue with infrared light from a plurality of different illumination directions, thereby providing diffuse infrared light to the body tissue, comprising;
an infrared light source for generating the infrared light, said infrared light passing through one or more computer controllable focusing lenses, said lenses emitting the infrared light toward the body tissue; and
video imaging means for viewing the body tissue from a viewing direction, for receiving the infrared light reflected from the body tissue, and for generating a video image of the body tissue based on the infrared light reflected from the body tissue.
- 99. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light, said source of laser light generating a short wavelength and infrared laser beam that is projected onto a target area, said laser beam creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area and wherein laser beam light reflected from said target area is captured by first and second photo detectors, said first photo detector detecting short wavelength light and said second photo detector detecting infrared light.
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104. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a first source of laser light
a second source of laser light each of said laser sources transmitting laser light to a target area, said laser light thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
- 121. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light, said source of laser light transmitting a beam of laser light onto a target area thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area, a photo detector and a filter, said filter permitting one or more laser signals to be differentiated from ambient light.
- 123. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a source of laser light, said source of laser light transmitting a single beam, said beam having a first level of intensity and a second level of intensity, said first level of intensity being used to project a signal onto a target area and said second signal being used to scan said target area thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area.
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132. A miniature vein enhancer comprising a miniature projection head said miniature projection head comprising:
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a source of laser light a movable mirror that receives a beam of laser light from said source of laser light, said mirror transmitting said beam of laser light onto a target area as said mirror moves thereby creating a pattern of light on said target area such that there is contrast between a blood vessel and the surrounding skin area. - View Dependent Claims (133, 134, 135, 136)
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Specification
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Current AssigneeAccuVein LLC
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Original AssigneeAccuVein LLC
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InventorsLuciano, Vincent, Wood, Fred, Goldman, Ron, Conlon, Stephen
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Granted Patent
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Time in Patent OfficeDays
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Field of Search
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US Class Current600/427
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CPC Class CodesA61B 2090/366 using projection of images ...A61B 2560/0431 Portable apparatus, e.g. co...A61B 2562/0233 Special features of optical...A61B 2562/028 Microscale sensors, e.g. el...A61B 5/004 adapted for image acquisiti...A61B 5/0059 using light, e.g. diagnosis...A61B 5/0062 Arrangements for scanningA61B 5/0064 Body surface scanningA61B 5/0077 Devices for viewing the sur...A61B 5/0079 using mirrors, i.e. for sel...A61B 5/0082 adapted for particular medi...A61B 5/4887 Locating particular structu...A61B 5/489 Blood vesselsA61B 5/7221 Determining signal validity...A61B 5/748 Selection of a region of in...A61M 5/427 Locating point where body i...G02B 26/0833 the reflecting element bein...
