Patent ID: 11931112
Assignee: BARD ACCESS SYSTEMS, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 0:
1. A method for determining a tip of a medical device is located within a superior vena cava (“SVC”), comprising:
advancing the tip of the medical device through a vasculature of a patient toward the SVC, the medical device including an integrated optical-fiber stylet having a plurality of fiber Bragg grating (“FBG”) sensors along at least a distal-end portion of the optical-fiber stylet for shape sensing with a shape-sensing system including the medical device;
enabling input optical signals to be sent into the optical-fiber stylet while advancing the tip of the medical device through the vasculature of the patient;
enabling FBG sensor-reflected optical signals to be received from the optical-fiber stylet while advancing the tip of the medical device through the vasculature of the patient; and
identifying on a display screen of the shape-sensing system a distinctive change in a plotted curvature of the optical-fiber stylet over time for a selection of the FBG sensors in the distal-end portion of the optical-fiber stylet at a moment the tip of the medical device is advanced into the SVC, thereby determining the tip of the medical device is located within the SVC.