Abstract:
The present disclosure provides a device for the automated illumination of a surgical sight and methods of use thereof.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application U.S. Ser. No. 60/701,106, filed. Jul. 20, 2005 by the present inventor. The contents of U.S. Ser. No. 60/701,106 are expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto. 
         [0002]    The following references are hereby explicitly incorporated by reference thereto: 
         [0003]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,777 (to which German Patent 25 19 426 corresponds) 
         [0004]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,838 
         [0005]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,008 
         [0006]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,196 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,431 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,568 
         [0009]    German Patent Disclosure Document DE-OS 32 27 494 
         [0010]    Applications filed along with present application by current inventor on this date entitled:
       HOSPITAL OPERATING ROOM RE-DESIGN   AMBIENT LIGHTING IN HOSPITAL SURGICAL ENVIRONMENTS   USE OF ULTRAVIOLET GERMICIDAL IRRADIATION IN HEALTH CARE ENVIRONMENTS   IN-WALL WASTE RECEPTACLES FOR HOSPITAL AND LABORATORY ENVIRONMENTS   MULTIFUNCTIONAL FLOOR PODS   RE-DESIGN OF OPERATING ROOM TABLES   ROBOTIC FLOOR CLEANING WITH STERILE, DISPOSABLE CARTRIDGES       
 
     
    
     Background of the Invention—Field of Invention 
       [0018]    The present invention relates to an operating room surgical light, a method of using an operating room light, and more particularly to using an operating room light with auto-adjustable lamp elements therein, so that the optical axes of the light emitted therefrom are directed to a point chosen by a wireless radio-frequency locator. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0019]    Hospital operating rooms typically use a number of lamps arranged about a focal point to illuminate a desired region, usually a surgical site. Because the lights are arrayed about this point, they may be adjusted to provide lighting which does not cast shadows, which would obstruct the view of said surgical site. Typical surgical lighting is arranged by either ceiling or floor mounted devices, which have handles thereon to allow manual adjustment of the lighting. Some devices are positioned manually while others are positioned under powered means such as by electric motors. 
         [0020]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,025,777 shows an operating room lamp for placement on a ceiling in an operating room. The lower portion of the device, which carries the light emitting surface, is subdivided to provide room for a plurality of light radiating lamps. The light radiators are located so as to be adjustable. Thus, a lamp guiding arrangement, coupled to the lamps, can change the light axes of the operating room lamp without moving the overall unit itself, so that the light beams from the respective lamp units coverage at a point which can be changed horizontally or vertically. The converging point can be previously determined. The individual lamp units are retained in a housing in a gimbal suspension and interconnected by guide rods and springs. The intersecting point of the three spatial axes can thus be shifted by appropriate readjustment of the control system that is formed by the respective guide rods. A carriage is provided which can be shifted along guide rails. The change or shift can be carried out by drive motors. 
         [0021]    German Patent Disclosure Document DE-OS 32 27 494 describes an operating room light specifically adapted for dental work and jaw surgery. A light beam remains continuously directed to the oral region of the patient by automatic tracking of a lamp if the patient&#39;s chair is moved. The necessary tracking arrangement includes an ultrasonic transmitter located in the region of the head of the patient, and an ultrasound receiver located in the treatment room, as well as a tracking or targeting circuit. Servo motors or stepping motors are provided to ensure tracking, by bringing the lamp holder in predetermined positions, or inclinations, respectively. Such an operating room light cannot be used for general surgery since the ultrasound transmitter must be located in the immediate vicinity of the operating field to be illuminated, that is, in the region of an open wound. For general surgical purposes, such a system cannot be used since an ultrasound transmitter cannot be placed in an open wound. Errors in adjustment as well as difficulties in handling and sterilization impede such application. 
         [0022]    U.S. Pat. No. 4,884,008 shows an operating room light in which the light beams can be automatically adjusted to compensate for movement or change in distance between the operating room light and the operation field, so that any illumination pattern or zone originally set will be retained in its base position. An ultrasonic distance sensor is located on the housing, and facing the operating surface, generates an electrical actual distance signal representative of the actual distance between the housing and the surface. The distance signal is coupled to a servo control circuit, which controls a lamp-adjustment element arrangement. The light beams are emitted from the operating room lamp in a group of beams located in ring shape about the circumference of a circular unit. 
         [0023]    In light of the prior art, an invention which can provide on-the-fly tracking, such as the ultrasonic locator in the above-referenced German Disclosure Document, would be of benefit provided it also was adapted for placement near or on a surgical site. In addition, an invention as described that utilized optimal lighting conditions, namely, a light-source emitting very focused and high-intensity light, would be of further benefit. Lastly, the invention as described which also provides a light source from a recessed cavity would allow the location of other overhead equipment, such as a surgical imaging C-arm, and would be of benefit. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0024]    In keeping with the present invention, it is an object of the invention to provide rapid, on-the-fly tracking of a surgical site or other site to be illuminated. 
         [0025]    As such, the present invention discloses the use of a wireless radio-frequency transmitter, such as a Bluetooth transmitter, which is adapted to transmit a distance signal to a receiver. The receiver then provides adjustment by way of an actuator of a single light source or an array of light sources, thereby providing an illuminating field with the further advantage that the latter array design will minimize shadows. In addition, the transmitter, in one embodiment, is of a small profile and constructed in biocompatible materials. The device may be either sterilizable for reuse or disposable, thereby allowing packing of the transmitter in a sterile container and further allowing placement of the device in, on, or by a surgical site. 
         [0026]    It is another object of the invention to provide an illumination field that provides maximal shadow cancellation while also providing an intense, focused illumination field. 
         [0027]    Light sources congregated about a single point, such as in a circle, allow the individual light sources to be targeted at a particular point. As the radius between any individual light source and the center of the circle decreases, the ability of the light sources to work to cancel shadows decreases. When the radius approaches zero, the resultant array of lights is equivalent to a single beam. As such, the present invention provides an array of lights that have larger than normal radii (radii are with respect to the distance between a light source and the point of illumination) owing to the improvement that individual lights are placed in discrete housing. Unfortunately, as the distance between a light source and a target source increases, the focus and intensity of a beam at the target source decreases. The present invention discloses a means for providing an intense, focused beam with maximal line of sight owing to the discrete housing of the light sources. Because the light sources are housed separately from one another, lamps that are more powerful and other more powerful light-emitting devices may be used, as the generation of localized heat is no longer as great an impediment to the use of very intense, focused light. In other words, the discrete housing minimizes heat build up which would be found if multiple lamps are housed together. It is generally sufficient that the lamps cool by natural radiation of heat, although it is conceived that the lamp housing and supports be composed of materials with high heat dissipation constants such as aluminum. 
         [0028]    It is yet another object of the invention to provide an illumination apparatus that integrates with the operating room, such that any light source and its respective housing is recessed into the wall, thereby providing improved space efficiency and the ability to locate additional ceiling mounted equipment near the surgical operating site. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0029]    The present invention can best be understood in connection with the accompanying drawings. It is noted that the invention is not limited to the precise embodiments shown in drawings, in which: 
           [0030]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention in which a number of recessed lights are arrayed about a central point and focused on said point; 
           [0031]      FIG. 2  is a schematic view of prior art, demonstrating the housing of a number of lights focused onto a point; 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  is a side-view schematic of the prior art; 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  is a schematic representation of two lights focused generally on a point and thereby providing an illumination field; 
           [0034]      FIG. 5  is a schematic representation of the lights in  FIG. 4  focused on the same point in  FIG. 4 , said point now more distant from the illumination source; 
           [0035]      FIG. 6  is a schematic representation of the target site illuminated in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , with said lights now more distant from each other, 
           [0036]      FIG. 7  is an isometric schematic representation of an example of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS 
       [0037]      100  Surgical Light;  102  Illumination Target;  104  Operating Table;  110  Prior Art (“PA”) Operating Room Illumination Device;  112  Surgical Light;  114  PA Surgical Lights Housing;  116  PA Ultrasonic Locator;  118  Light Beam;  120  Illumination Field/Target;  122  Ceiling;  124  Table;  150  Control Box;  152  Power,  154  Housing;  156  Lamp;  158  Table;  160  Illumination Target and Locator;  162  Wireless Location Signal;  164  Focused Light Beam;  166  Cable to Control Box;  168  Actuator, Swivel, and Mounting;  172  Cable to Power,  176  Lamp Housing;  178  Lamp Mounting and Swivel 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0038]    With respect to the drawings,  FIG. 1  shows a typical surgical operating room with one possible arrangement of lights  100  positioned in accord with present invention. The dotted circles and lines intersecting through them to a point  102  on surgical table  104  indicates the diminishing illuminating field of the focused lights  100 . Since the lights  100  are spaced distant from each other, they are thereby adapted to provide additional lines-of-sight to a target area such as point  102 . 
         [0039]    In contrast, in a typical example of the prior art, shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , auto-adjustable surgical lights  112  arrayed in a single housing  114  provide an illuminating light  118  toward illumination target  120  on table  124 . The illumination target  120  is located by a device  116  which may be an ultrasonic detector. As  FIG. 3  demonstrates, the prior art includes light housings  114  that are attached to a ceiling  122 , thereby consuming overhead working space. 
         [0040]      FIGS. 4 ,  5 , and  6  demonstrate some of the deficiencies in the prior art.  FIG. 4  shows two surgical lights  112  which are adjacent to each other and illuminating a target field  120  on table  124 . The dotted arrow indicates the width of the illuminating beam  118 . As  FIG. 4  shows, if the illuminating source, namely surgical lights  112 , is adjacent and near the target  120 , they provide a focused and substantial illumination. However, as the target field is placed more distant from lights  112 , as seen in  FIG. 6 , the beam width increases and hence becomes less focused. Light loses its intensity and focus with increasing distance from the source. In comparison,  FIG. 5  shows lights  112  placed more distant from each other. Again, because the distance from source to target has been increased, the target is illuminated less well. 
         [0041]    The present invention comprises numerous improvements over the prior art, as shown in  FIG. 7 . In  FIG. 7 , lights are housed independently of each other, thereby allowing very intense, focused lights to be used. The use of very intense, focused lights compensate for the effect (light intensity and focus diminishment) demonstrated in  FIG. 5 . Each light source, such as a lamp, must provide about at least 100,000 Lux with, a color temperature approximately around 5600 K. The lamp should be of a metal-halide type. As such, the lights are freed from the constraint of being housing together to provide the necessary intensity and focus as in the prior art shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . Further, individual housing of lights allows each light to be housed within a recessed cavity within the ceiling, thereby freeing valuable overhead working space. 
         [0042]    The recessed housing  154 , in one embodiment, is detailed in the lower right of  FIG. 7 . Shown is lamp  156  contained within lamp housing  176  which may be attached to a powered swiveling means and support  178 , actuated by control box  150 . The swiveling means would allow directional travel of the lamp housing  176  and its lamp  156  along the path described by the bidirectional dotted arrow. Support  178  itself may be attached to a mount and swivel means  168  which would allow directional travel of the lamp housing  176  and its lamp  156  along the path described by the two oppositely orientated solid arrows. Power is provided by cabling  172 , which is supplied from an outside AC or DC source  152 . Further, control signals are provided from control box  150  from cabling  166 . The control signal actuates  170  and  176  as necessary by computing the appropriate positioning of lamp  156  based on a distance signal  162  (sent wirelessly in the RF band) provided by locator  160  on table  158 . 
         [0043]    In the foregoing description, certain terms and visual depictions are used to illustrate the preferred embodiment. However, no unnecessary limitations are to be construed by the terms used or illustrations depicted, beyond what is shown in the prior art, since the terms and illustrations are exemplary only, and are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. It is further known that other modifications may be made to the present invention, without departing the scope of the invention, as noted in the appended claims.