Method and apparatus for ensuring sterility of surgical drapes used with surgical equipment
First Claim
1. An apparatus for ensuring sterility of a sterile medium contained within a thermal treatment system basin by detecting the presence of a sterile drape providing a sterile field above the basin for thermal treatment of the sterile medium, said apparatus comprising:
- a thermal treatment system for thermally treating the sterile medium, said thermal treatment system including at least one basin;
a surgical drape covering and substantially conforming to said at least one basin to serve as a drape container for the sterile medium, said surgical drape including a surgical drape identifier for indicating the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system;
a detector to sense said surgical drape identifier and to determine the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system; and
a controller to enable said thermal treatment system to thermally treat the sterile medium in response to said detector indicating the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The presence of a drape on a thermal treatment system for ensuring sterility of a sterile medium contained within a thermal treatment system basin is determined by the use of a drape identifier and corresponding detector. When a drape containing the identifier is placed on the corresponding thermal treatment system, a detector senses and verifies the drape identifier to determine the presence of the drape on the thermal treatment system. A controller receives a signal from the detector indicating whether or not a drape is present on the thermal treatment system. If a drape is not present on the thermal treatment system, the controller prevents thermal treatment system operation. Various drape identifiers may be utilized to indicate the presence of the drape on the thermal treatment system, such as bar codes, mechanical and optical keys, light filter patches disposed on the drape passing various intensities or bands of light, reflective material segments disposed on the drape or reflective material used to construct the drape itself for reflecting light from a light source toward a light detector, and magnetic media in the form of magnetic strips disposed on the drape or a magnetic pigment or resin additive incorporated into the drape material.
83 Citations
40 Claims
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1. An apparatus for ensuring sterility of a sterile medium contained within a thermal treatment system basin by detecting the presence of a sterile drape providing a sterile field above the basin for thermal treatment of the sterile medium, said apparatus comprising:
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a thermal treatment system for thermally treating the sterile medium, said thermal treatment system including at least one basin; a surgical drape covering and substantially conforming to said at least one basin to serve as a drape container for the sterile medium, said surgical drape including a surgical drape identifier for indicating the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system; a detector to sense said surgical drape identifier and to determine the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system; and a controller to enable said thermal treatment system to thermally treat the sterile medium in response to said detector indicating the presence of said surgical drape on said thermal treatment system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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- 20. A device for use in a surgical apparatus to ensure sterility of liquid being temperature controlled, wherein said surgical apparatus includes at least one temperature controlled basin and a detector fixedly positioned relative to said surgical apparatus, and said device comprises a drape containing a drape identifier adapted and disposed to be sensed by said detector to determine the presence of said drape on said surgical apparatus when said drape is placed on said surgical apparatus with said drape identifier positioned to be detectable by said detector and a portion of said drape is disposed in said at least one basin to form a drape container in the basin for containing and maintaining said liquid, wherein said drape identifier indicates the presence of said drape on said surgical apparatus, and said surgical apparatus includes a controller for enabling operation of said surgical apparatus in response to determining the presence of said drape on said surgical apparatus thereby preventing operation of said surgical apparatus without a drape container.
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29. A method for ensuring sterility of a sterile medium contained within at least one thermal treatment system basin by detecting the presence of a sterile surgical drape disposed over a thermal treatment system wherein the sterile surgical drape provides a sterile field above the basin, said method comprising the steps of:
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(a) physically placing a drape identifier on surgical drapes; (b) determining the presence of a drape placed on the thermal treatment system by detecting in the thermal treatment system said drape identifier of said drape placed on the thermal treatment system; and (c) enabling temperature control of each basin only in response to detection of said drape identifier. - View Dependent Claims (30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification