Patent ID: 11877765
Assignee: TERUMO CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEMS CORPORATION
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 9:
10. A method of visualizing subcutaneous tissue while harvesting a blood vessel from a patient, comprising the steps of:
inserting a tip of an endoscopic instrument subcutaneously into the patient, wherein the endoscopic instrument has an optical system providing a visual output for driving a video display;
continuously delivering insufflation gas into a dissected space formed within the patient via an insufflation channel, wherein expelled insufflation gas inflates the dissected space;
evacuating fluidic contents from the dissected space via a removal channel disposed within the endoscopic instrument to avoid overpressurization of the dissected space, wherein the fluidic contents include insufflation gas and biological impurities;
processing the fluidic contents to retain at least some of the biological impurities; and
exhausting the processed insufflation gas to ambient air without the retained biological impurities.