Patent ID: 9693729
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61M

Claim:
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 an emitter sensor opening of a penetration sensor device comprising a tip, wherein the first light signal is emitted in a direction ahead of the tip into a tissue; receiving a second light signal reflected from the tissue ahead of the tip through a detector sensor opening of 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; and 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 sensor probe comprising a sensor unit, at a tip of the sensor probe, having the emitter and detector sensor openings.