Abstract:
A tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism adapted to facilitate inspection of the larynx and a medical diagnosis of its condition, the mechanism includes a blade insertable into the mouth to depress the tongue so as to expose the larynx. A camera and a light illuminating unit are located in the front end of the blade. The camera is configured to send image signals to a transmitter which is located in the rear end of the blade. The transmitter sends the images to a display for viewing.

Description:
[0001]    This patent application is based on and claims priority to Taiwanese Patent Application No. 098118275, filed Jun. 2, 2009. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to tongue depressors and more particularly to a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism for inserting into the tongue of a patient and taking a digital video image of the larynx in the throat for further examination. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    Medical devices for examining the mouth including the larynx are well known. For example, a tongue depressor having a flat blade is used to depress the tongue of a patient in order to fully expose the larynx so that it can be inspected by a physician. In some tongue depressor, a camera is provided behind or in the rear end of the flat blade. The camera may be attached to the tongue depressor by means of an adapter or a bracket. It is a natural response to bite the tongue depressor when the tongue depressor is placed in the open mouth of a′ patient (e.g., a baby or a child). As such, the tongue may block the view of the camera and render the camera not useful for its intended purposes. The physician may take a prolonged period of time to yield of an image of the larynx. Furthermore, it may not be possible to yield a complete image of the larynx by the rear camera. Additionally, the typical lens is too large to dispose at a front end of the tongue depressor. This can compromise the desired function of inspecting the larynx for diagnosis. 
         [0006]    It is thus advantageous to provide a tongue depressor that is easier to use. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    It is therefore one object of the invention to provide a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism having a forward camera which is proximate to the larynx after inserting a blade into the mouth so that the camera may yield a clear digital image of the larynx. As such, even the tongue blocks the blade, there is no disruption or view blocking of the normal operation of the camera. 
         [0008]    To achieve above and other objects of the invention, there is provided a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism adapted to facilitate inspection of the larynx of a subject and a medical diagnosis of its condition. The tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism comprises a flat blade insertable into the mouth of the subject to depress the tongue so as to cause the throat to expose the larynx; a power source disposed on the blade; a sleeve disposed on the blade; an elongated insert comprising a rear enlargement and being adapted to insert into the sleeve to be frictionally retained by the sleeve when the enlargement is stopped at a rear end of the sleeve; a miniature, digital video camera disposed in a front end of the insert; a light emitting unit disposed in the front end of the insert; a transmitter disposed in the blade; and a switch disposed on the blade and being proximate to the power source, the switch being electrically connecting the power source to each of the camera, the transmitter, and the light emitting unit, wherein in response to inserting the blade into the mouth, activating the light emitting unit to project a light beam to illuminate the exposed larynx, activating the transmitter, and activating the camera by manually activating the switch, an image of the larynx is yielded by the camera and the image can be sent by the transmitter for exhibit. 
         [0009]    The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a first preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 1A  is a greatly enlarged view of a front end of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a second preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a third preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 4A  is a greatly enlarged view of a front end of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0017]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0018]      FIG. 7  is an exploded view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram of the tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism, a channel indicator, and a computer system in cooperation therewith; 
           [0020]      FIG. 9  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a sixth preferred embodiment of the invention; and 
           [0021]      FIG. 10  is a perspective view of a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism according to a seventh preferred embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0022]    Referring to  FIGS. 1 ,  1 A and  2 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism  1  in accordance with a first preferred embodiment of the invention comprises the following components as discussed in detail below. 
         [0023]    A flat blade  10  has a front end  101  and a rear end  102 . A miniature, digital video camera  12  is provided in a cylinder  121  which is mounted on top of the front end  101 . A lens  122  is provided on an opening of the cylinder  121  above a curved edge  101 A on the front end  101 . A light emitting unit  14  is provided in the camera  12 . Power and cable  123  are interconnected to the camera  12  and a printed circuit board (PCB) (not shown) is within the blade  10 . A power source (e.g., battery)  104  is provided on a top position proximate to the rear end  102 . A switch (e.g., push button switch)  103  is provided between the power source  104  and a center of the blade  10 . The switch  103  is electrically interconnected to the power source  104  and the PCB for permitting a power supply from the power source  104  to the PCB or not. Moreover, power can be supplied from the PCB to the camera  12  and the light emitting unit  14 . Preferably, the light emitting unit  14  comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs)  14 . 
         [0024]    In use, a physician may press the switch  103  to activate both the camera  12  and the light emitting unit  14  which thus can project a light beam. Next, insert the blade  10  into the mouth of a patient (e.g., baby or child) to press down the tongue for inducing a gag reflex. Naturally, the throat may dilate to fully expose the larynx for viewing. The camera  12 , provided on the front end  101  of the blade  10 , is proximate to the larynx. Thus, the camera  12  may yield a clear digital image of the larynx which is being illuminated by the light emitting unit  14  since, even the tongue or the lips of the patient block the blade  10 , there would be no disruption or view blocking of the normal operation of the camera  12 . The image of the larynx is then wirelessly sent by a transmitter  18  to a display (not shown) of a computer (not shown) in a magnified scale. Note that details of the wireless transmission will be discussed later. Therefore, the physician may clearly see the larynx from the display and a correct diagnosis can be made. The camera has a diameter about 5 mm, but it can be larger or smaller. 
         [0025]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a second preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. The cylinder  16  is integrally formed with the top of the front end  101 . Both the camera  12  and the light emitting unit  14  are provided in the cylinder  16 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIGS. 4 ,  4 A and  5 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a third preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. The light emitting unit  14  comprises a plurality of LEDs  14  which are provided on the curved edge  101 A on the front end  101 . 
         [0027]    Referring to  FIG. 6 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a fourth preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. The cylinder  16 A is integrally formed with the top of the front end  101 . The camera  12  is provided in the cylinder  16 A. The light emitting unit  14  comprises a plurality of LEDs  14  which are provided on the curved edge  101 A on the front end  101 . 
         [0028]    The cylinder  16 A is integrally formed with the top of the front end  101 . The camera  12  is provided in the cylinder  16 A. The light emitting unit  14  comprises a plurality of LEDs  14  which are provided on the curved edge  101 A on the front end  101 . A transmitter  18  is provided on top of the rear end  102 . The transmitter  18  is electrically connected to the power source  104  and is in signal communication with the camera  12 . Referring to  FIGS. 7 and 8 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a fifth preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. A lengthwise sleeve  26  of circular section is provided on top of the blade  10 . A cylindrical insert  28  has a front end provided with a camera  12  and a light emitting unit  14  and a rear end provided with an enlargement  30 . The insert  28  can be inserted into the sleeve  26  until the enlargement  30  contacts the sleeve  26 . At this position, the insert  28  is frictionally retained in the sleeve  26  and the camera  12  is disposed at the front end of the sleeve  26  (i.e., on top of the front end  101 ). Switch  103 , transmitter  18 , and power source  104  are provided proximate to the rear end  102 . This embodiment facilitates a replacement of the camera  12  if such need arises. 
         [0029]    As shown in  FIG. 8 , image signals can be sent from the camera  12  to the transmitter  18  which, in turn, wirelessly transmits the image signals to a personal computer (PC)  24  or the like. The transmitter  18  may also transmit the image signals to a channel indicator  19  by wire or by a wireless means (such as IR or Bluetooth signals). The channel indicator  19  is provided proximate to where the physician performs the examination so that the physician may see the operating channel of the transmitter  18 . Moreover, the PC  24  is equipped with a display  20  for showing the magnified examination image of the larynx, and a keyboard  22 . 
         [0030]    Referring to  FIG. 9 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a sixth preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. The blade  10  is wrapped around by a flexible sheath  40  having an oval depression  41  for ease of manual pushing of the blade  10  into the tongue. Also, the switch  103  and the channel indicator  19  are provided proximate to the rear end  102 . The camera  12  is provided in the cylinder  16  which is integrally formed on top of the front end  101 . 
         [0031]    Referring to  FIG. 10 , a tongue depressor and throat viewing mechanism in accordance with a seventh preferred embodiment of the invention is characterized below. An additional transparent, flexible, disposable enclosure  50  made of plastic is put on the sheath  40 . After a single use, the enclosure  50  can be discarded for hygienic purposes. 
         [0032]    The invention has the following advantages: In use, after inserting the blade into the mouth of a patient to press down the tongue, the throat may dilate to fully expose the larynx for viewing. The forwardly located camera is relatively small (e.g., about or less than 5 mm in diameter) so as to enable it to dispose on a front end of the tongue depressor in the throat proximate to the larynx. As such, the camera can yield a clear digital image of the larynx. Even when the tongue or other part of the mouth blocks the blade, there is no disruption or view blocking of the normal operation of the camera. Moreover, the image of the larynx can be sent to a display for showing in a magnified scale by wireless transmission. Thus, a correct diagnosis can be made. 
         [0033]    In summary, the present invention provides a tongue depressor and throat viewing apparatus adapted to facilitate inspection of larynx of a subject, such as a person. The apparatus has a blade ( 10 ) with a front end ( 101 ) and a rear end ( 102 ). Thee blade is configured to be inserted into the mouth of the subject so that at least the front end depresses the subject&#39;s tongue for exposing the larynx. At the front end, a camera ( 12 ) is used to take images of the larynx and it surrounding area. A light emitting unit located in relationship to the camera is used to provide lighting to the camera. The camera can send images to a transmitter ( 18 ) which is configured for transmitting the image signals for display. Transmitter can be located in the rear end of the blade, but it can be a separate unit. The apparatus also has a switch for electrically connecting the light emitting unit and the camera to a power source. The switch is manually operated when needed. The power source can be a battery of a small size so it can be attached to the rear end of the blade. 
         [0034]    The camera can be mounted on a mount located in the front end. The light emitting unit can have one or more light emitting diodes located on a front-curved edge of the blade. Alternatively, the light emitting unit has a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted around the circumference of the camera lens. In one embodiment of the present invention, a flexible sheath ( 40 ) is provided around the blade to facilitate pushing of the blade into the mouth. In another embodiment of the present invention, a disposable wrap is for wrapping around the blade, with or without the flexible sheath. The disposable wrap ( 50 ) can be made of transparent and flexible material. In yet another embodiment, an elongated insert ( 28 ) having a first end is used for mounting the camera, and a lengthwise sleeve ( 26 ) is located on the blade, wherein the elongated insert is dimensioned for inserting through the sleeve so that the camera can be located in the front end of the blade. Preferably, the elongated insert ( 28 ) has an opposing second end with an enlarged portion for preventing the elongated insert from further inserting into the sleeve. According to the present invention, the transmitter is configured to provide an electrical signal to a channel indicator ( 19 ) for indicating an operating channel of the transmitter. 
         [0035]    Thus, while the invention has been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the invention can be practiced with modifications within the scope of the appended claims.