Method for detecting transverse vibrations in an ultrasonic hand piece
First Claim
1. A method for detecting transverse vibrations in an ultrasonic hand piece, comprising the steps of:
- applying a drive signal at a primary resonance frequency to an ultrasonic hand piece using an ultrasonic generator;
measuring an electrical characteristic of the hand piece at the primary resonance frequency;
shifting the primary resonance frequency of the drive signal;
measuring the electrical resonance of the hand piece at the shifted resonance frequency;
comparing the measured electrical characteristic at the primary resonance frequency to the impedance of the hand piece at the shifted resonance frequency; and
if the measured electrical characteristic is greater than a predetermined threshold, displaying a message on a liquid crystal display of the generator.
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Abstract
A method for detecting transverse mode vibrations in an ultrasonic hand piece/blade is achieved by monitoring the power delivered to the hand piece/blade to determine whether it increases as expected when power levels applied to the hand piece/blade are changed. While the blade is being held in midair, the power delivered to the hand piece/blade and/or the impedance of the hand piece/blade is measured at a first power level. Using the value obtained at the first power level, the expected power at a second power level is calculated and used to set a pass/fail threshold level for an actual measured power. Alternatively, the threshold is set for the impedance is set. Next, the actual power delivered to the hand piece/blade and/or the impedance of the hand piece/blade is measured at a level 5 power setting. A determination is made whether the hand piece/blade exhibits transverse mode behavior based on whether the actual measured power exceeds the established pass/fail threshold level. If this is the case, operation of the generator is inhibited, a “Transverse Mode Vibrations Present in Hand Piece/Blade” error code is stored in the generator, and a “Bad Hand Piece” message is displayed on a liquid crystal display on the generator. In addition, a method for detecting transverse mode vibration in an ultrasonic hand piece/blade is achieved by monitoring power delivered to the hand piece/blade to determine if the an extraordinary power increase occurs as the drive frequency is shifted downward and/or upward from a primary intended resonance operating frequency.
318 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A method for detecting transverse vibrations in an ultrasonic hand piece, comprising the steps of:
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applying a drive signal at a primary resonance frequency to an ultrasonic hand piece using an ultrasonic generator; measuring an electrical characteristic of the hand piece at the primary resonance frequency; shifting the primary resonance frequency of the drive signal; measuring the electrical resonance of the hand piece at the shifted resonance frequency; comparing the measured electrical characteristic at the primary resonance frequency to the impedance of the hand piece at the shifted resonance frequency; and if the measured electrical characteristic is greater than a predetermined threshold, displaying a message on a liquid crystal display of the generator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method for detecting transverse vibrations in an ultrasonic hand piece, comprising the steps of:
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applying a drive signal to an ultrasonic hand piece using an ultrasonic generator; measuring electrical characteristic of the hand piece/blade at a first power level while the hand piece/blade is held in midair; calculating an expected electrical characteristic at a second power level using the first power level; setting a pass/fail threshold for an increase in electrical characteristic of the hand piece/blade based on the calculated expected electrical characteristic; measuring the electrical characteristic of the hand piece/blade at the second power level; comparing the electrical characteristic at the second power level to the pass/fail threshold; if the measured electrical characteristic of the hand piece/blade is less than the pass/fail threshold, displaying a first message on a liquid crystal display of the generator; and if the measured electrical characteristic of the hand piece/blade is greater than the pass/fail threshold, displaying a second message on a liquid crystal display of the generator. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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Specification