Apparatus and method for locating and marking blood vessels
First Claim
1. A device for locating a blood vessel within a human body comprising:
- a housing having front and rear walls and a pair of side walls extending therebetween;
means for positioning said housing at a selected position over a portion of a human body;
a transducer assembly adapted to project ultrasonic signals towards a selected portion of the body and adapted to utilize said projected signals to detect a blood vessel location underlying a body portion and produce signals corresponding thereto, said signals providing data to the control assembly coupled to said transducer assembly for processing, said control assembly adapted to process the data for presenting control signals corresponding to a location of the selected blood vessel;
a carriage for said transducer assembly;
first means responsive to said control signals for moving said carriage to a first position between said side walls;
second means responsive to said control signals for moving said carriage to a second position between said front and rear walls relative to said first position, said first and second moving means positioning said carriage to the location of the blood vessel positioned adjacent said housing.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A device for non-invasively locating and marking blood carrying vessels in a live human body includes a housing having a control panel for user selection of functions, a central processing unit controlling said functions. The device includes motorized legs for regulating the height of the housing above a patient'"'"'s skin according to data received from a proximity sensor. The device includes an upper carriage driven in a first direction and a lower carriage driven in a second direction that is perpendicular to the first direction. The lower carriage is coupled to the upper carriage such that the lower carriage can be positioned at any position within an x-y plane. The device further includes a transducer for locating the position of a blood vessel through the transmission and receipt of ultrasonic waves. The transducer is mounted to the lower carriage such that the path of a blood vessel can be tracked through carriage movements according to signals received by the transducer. When a vessel has been located, the vessel is tracked and the x-y coordinates are stored in sequential memory locations. The x-y coordinates are then used by a plotter attached to the lower carriage to mark the path of the vessel upon the skin of the patient.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A device for locating a blood vessel within a human body comprising:
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a housing having front and rear walls and a pair of side walls extending therebetween; means for positioning said housing at a selected position over a portion of a human body; a transducer assembly adapted to project ultrasonic signals towards a selected portion of the body and adapted to utilize said projected signals to detect a blood vessel location underlying a body portion and produce signals corresponding thereto, said signals providing data to the control assembly coupled to said transducer assembly for processing, said control assembly adapted to process the data for presenting control signals corresponding to a location of the selected blood vessel; a carriage for said transducer assembly; first means responsive to said control signals for moving said carriage to a first position between said side walls; second means responsive to said control signals for moving said carriage to a second position between said front and rear walls relative to said first position, said first and second moving means positioning said carriage to the location of the blood vessel positioned adjacent said housing. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. For use with a control assembly adapted to produce a control signal in response to a signal generated by a transducer assembly corresponding to a blood vessel location underlying a portion of the human body comprising:
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a housing; means for positioning said housing at a selected position adjacent a portion of a human body; a carriage assembly adapted to support the transducer assembly; first means responsive to the control signal for mounting said carriage assembly to said housing in lateral movement relative to said housing; second means responsive to the control signal for moving said carriage assembly in longitudinal movement relative to said housing, said first and second mounting means positioning said carriage along said housing at a position relative to the location of the blood vessel corresponding to the signal generated by the transducer assembly. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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15. A device for locating a blood vessel within a human body comprising:
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a housing adapted to be positioned adjacent a selected portion of a human body; a transducer assembly adapted to project signals towards a selected portion of the body and adapted to utilize said projected signals to produce signals indicative of a blood vessel location underlying the body portion, said produced signals providing data to the control assembly coupled to said transducer assembly for processing, said control assembly adapted to process the data for presenting control signals corresponding to a location of the selected blood vessel; a framework assembly; means responsive to said control signals for moving said framework assembly in a first back and forth movement relative to said housing; a carriage assembly; means for connecting said carriage assembly to said framework for movement therewith; means responsive to said control signals for moving said carriage in a second back and forth movement relative to said housing generally normal to said first back and forth movement, said framework and carriage moving means positioning said carriage at the location of the selected blood vessel. - View Dependent Claims (16)
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Specification