Connector for coupling a multiple channel cable to a cuvette

• US 5,339,375 A
• Filed: 11/12/1992
• Issued: 08/16/1994
• Est. Priority Date: 10/03/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Original Assignee: Medtronic Incorporated (Medtronic Plc)
• Inventors: Kerns, Ralph M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, John D.
• Application Number:
  US07/975,451
• Time in Patent Office: 642 Days
• Field of Search: 385/53-56, 385/58, 385/60, 385/70, 385/72, 385/88-90, 385/92, 385/115, 385/117, 385/147, 385/902
• US Class Current: 385/53
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 2560/0233 Optical standards
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14535 for measuring haematocrit
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/14557 specially adapted to extracorporeal circuits
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/1495 Calibrating or testing of in-vivo probes
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/274 Calibration, base line adjustment, drift correction
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/1244 Ambient light detector, e.g. for invalidating
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/1281 Reflecting part, i.e. for autocollimation

Abstract

A system for disabling an oximetric device when radiation-carrying channels are exposed to excess ambient radiation is disclosed. It includes a transmitter channel adjacent the sample to be measured, means for isolating the channel from the sample so that it does not carry radiation reflected from or transmitted through the sample, a detector for receiving the transmitted signal, if any, and means for disabling the output in response to the transmitted signal. Preferably, the transmitter channel runs parallel to other transmitter channels in the device, and is isolated from undue ambient light. The system preferably includes means for determining when the second transmitted signal exceeds background noise and the output is disabled when the second transmitted signal exceeds background noise. In general, the sample is a fluid, usually blood, passing through a cuvette adjacent the fiber-optic channels, the cuvette defining an area of radiation absorption adjacent the transmitter channel so that the transmitter does not carry reflected or transmitted radiation from the sample. Also disclosed is a fiber-optic sensor for measuring components of a composition by detecting transmitted or reflected, usually reflected, radiation including such a system, and the cuvette therefor. Finally, a method of disabling the output of an oximetric device when the fiber-optic channels are exposed to undue ambient radiation is disclosed.

Claims

1. A connector for coupling a multiple channel cable to a cuvette, the cuvette having two spaced apart keys located on opposing sides of a window with which the cable is to be aligned, each key having an opposing aperture and flange, the connector comprising:

a generally cylindrical knob through which the cable extends, said knob having two longitudinally extending extensions and two radially extending lips, each said lip being sized to be received within the opposing apertures and having a stop portion and a raised lock portion between which the flange may be positioned;

a foot disposed on the end of the cable to be aligned with the window, said foot being generally cylindrical and rotatable with respect to said knob, said foot having two radially extending opposing stops which, together with said extensions, limit the rotation of said knob with respect to said foot from a first position where said lips are aligned radially with said stops to a second position where said lips are radially offset from said stops, each said stop having a key slot sized to receive the keys on the cuvette; and

spring means disposed between said knob and said foot for biasing said knob away from said foot, said connector being adapted to receive the keys of the cuvette while in said second position, said connector being further adapted to permit rotation of said knob to said first position while axial pressure is applied on the cuvette and said foot in the direction of the cable, such that said lips are received within the opposing apertures and the flange is locked into place between said stop portion and said raised lock portion by releasing the axial pressure.

2. The connector of claim 1 wherein said key slots are different sizes to accommodate correspondingly different sized keys such that the cable may be connected to the cuvette in only one orientation.