Patent ID: 9445766
Filing Date: 2016-09-20
CPC Classification: A61B,A61M

Claim Text:
1. A method for differentiating a blood vessel from a nonvascular tissue inside a patient's body cavity during a surgical procedure, comprising: transmitting a first light signal through optical fibers in a penetration sensor device comprising a tip, wherein the first light signal is emitted in a first direction ahead of the tip into a tissue; receiving a second light signal reflected from the tissue ahead of the tip through the optical fibers in the penetration sensor device; determining an indicator of presence of a blood vessel ahead of the tip of the penetration sensor device based on information from the first light signal and the second light signal; identifying the tissue as a blood vessel if the indicator for presence of a blood vessel is greater than a threshold, wherein the penetration sensor device comprises a penetration instrument having a tubular body with a lumen along a longitudinal axis of the tubular body, and a sensor probe, coupled to the penetration instrument, comprising a sensor unit, at a tip of the sensor probe, having emitter and detector sensor openings, optical fibers wherein a first distal end of a first optical fiber of the optical fibers is coupled to the emitter sensor opening and a second distal end of a second optical fiber of the optical fibers is coupled to the detector sensor opening, and a connector which includes proximal ends of the fibers and is configured to couple the penetration sensor device to a system unit.