SURGICAL PROCEDURES
First Claim
1. A method of locating within a body target tissue, organs and objects intended for surgery comprising the steps ofproviding at least one implantable transponder,providing a transponder implantation device,providing a transponder locating device,prior to surgery, implanting a transponder within the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, andat the time of surgery, scanning the body for the transponder with the transponder locating device.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of locating and identifying, during surgery, target regions within a body intended for excision of suspect tissue and/or removal of diseased organs or foreign objects, resides in implantation within the body proximate the suspect tissue or object prior to surgery of one or more passive integrated transponder tags and, at the time of and/or during surgery, scanning of the body with a radio frequency scanner or reader that activates the tag or tags and provides the surgeon with one or more signals indicative of the approximate location and unique identification of each of the tags, thereby to aid the surgeon in performance of the surgery. Verification of the success of the surgical procedure is obtained following surgery by scanning the site for absence of the tag or tags and/or by scanning the excised tissue for presence of the tag or tags.
94 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of locating within a body target tissue, organs and objects intended for surgery comprising the steps of
providing at least one implantable transponder, providing a transponder implantation device, providing a transponder locating device, prior to surgery, implanting a transponder within the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, and at the time of surgery, scanning the body for the transponder with the transponder locating device.
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6. A method of locating and identifying within a body target tissue, organs and objects intended for surgery comprising the steps of
providing at least one implantable transponder containing an identifier, providing a transponder identification reading device, prior to surgery implanting a transponder within the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, and at the time of surgery, locating and identifying the transponder by scanning the body for the transponder with the transponder identification reading device.
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10. A procedure for use in surgically removing target tissue, organs and objects from a body comprising the steps of
prior to surgery, implanting at least one implantable transponder containing an identifier within the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, at the time of surgery, locating and identifying the target tissue, organ or object, by scanning the body with transponder locating and identifier reading apparatus, and following surgery, scanning one or the other or both of the body and surgically excised matter with the transponder locating and identifier reading apparatus.
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11. A method for use in surgically removing target tissue, organs and objects from a body comprising the steps of
prior to surgery, implanting at least one implantable transponder containing an identifier within the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, at the time of surgery, locating and identifying the target tissue, organ or object, by scanning the body with transponder locating and identifier reading means, excising the target tissue, organ or object, and following excision, scanning one or the other or both of the body and the surgically excised matter with the transponder locating and identifier reading means.
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18. A procedure for use in the surgical removal of target tissue, organs and objects from a body comprising the steps of
providing at least one radio frequency responsive passive integrated transponder containing an identifier, providing radio frequency transmitting and receiving means for energizing the passive integrated transponder, for reading the identifier in the energized transponder, and for locating the energized transponder, prior to surgery, implanting the at least one passive integrated transponder in the body proximate the target tissue, organ or object, and at the time of surgery, scanning the body with said means for remotely energizing the at least one implanted transponder when said means comes into proximity with the transponder, for remotely reading the identifier in the implanted energized transponder, and for remotely determining the location within the body of the implanted energized transponder.
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21. A method of scanning, comprising the steps of:
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providing one or more targets each identified as a suspect target to be removed from a body; associating each of said suspect targets with a respective transponder located in the body; removing one or more of said transponders and its associated suspect target from the body; scanning the body to determine a presence or absence of said transponders in the body. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification