Abstract:
A marking pen for indicating the proper location of incisions to be made on a patient undergoing surgery is provided. The marking pen includes a handle having a first end and a second end; a wheel comprising a gelatinous ink-soaked polymer rotably attached to the first end of the handle; and a plurality of treads on a periphery of the wheel.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Application Serial No. 60/409,395 filed Sep. 10, 2002, which is incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    The present invention relates, in general, to a marking pen. More particularly, to a marking pen for use during surgery, so as to guide the surgeon in making a proper incision. The pen may also aid the surgeon in marking where to place sutures, staples, glue or other mechanisms for closing an incision post operatively.  
           [0003]    The use of marking pens in surgery is common. A surgeon will mark lines on a patient&#39;s body so as to know the proper place and length of the incision that will be made during the operation. Such lines can be particularly important in plastic surgery. In such cases, it is extremely important that the incisions be at the proper location, and of the appropriate length. This is often difficult to do during surgery without the aid of markings.  
           [0004]    Typically, a surgeon will use a felt tip pen to mark lines representing the desired incisions. Felt tip pens can drag across the patient&#39;s skin catching some of the skin. The skin that is caught by the pen can bunch up underneath the pen resulting in a jagged or crooked line. Also, felt tip pens, in particular, can “bleed” when they are first placed on a patient&#39;s skin.  
           [0005]    Marking pens of the prior art also have a tendency to dry out. Prior art pens have tried to solve this problem of drying out by providing a surgical marker with a reservoir that feeds a marking portion of the surgical marker. In these pens having reservoirs, the channels leading to the marking portion can become clogged.  
           [0006]    Due to these problems with marking pens, some surgeons rely on other marking techniques. Some doctors dip toothpicks or other similar instruments in ink, and then drag the ink-soaked toothpick across the patient&#39;s skin to form a line. The toothpicks, or other similar marking instruments do not hold a significant amount of ink and must be repeatedly dipped into the ink when the surgeon is drawing a number of lines.  
           [0007]    Accordingly, to overcome these problems, there is a need for a marking pen that enables a surgeon to make a line on the patient&#39;s skin that is not jagged. Additionally, the line can provide configurations that can mark a patient&#39;s skin to aid the doctor in the placement of sutures after the surgery has been performed.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0008]    In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a marking pen for indicating the proper location of incisions to be made on a patient undergoing surgery is provided. The marking pen includes a handle having a first end and a second end; a wheel comprising a gelatinous ink-soaked polymer rotably attached to the first end of the handle; and a plurality of treads on a periphery of the wheel.  
           [0009]    In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method of marking surgical lines on the skin of a human is provided. The method comprises providing a wheel having cross-shaped treads; marking the skin with the wheel forming a first line aligned with the circumference of the wheel; and marking the skin with the wheel forming a plurality of hash-marks substantially perpendicular to the first line.  
           [0010]    The advantages and benefits of the present invention will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading and understanding the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]    The drawings are only for purposes of illustrating preferred embodiments, and are not to be construed as limiting the invention. The invention may take form in various components and arrangement of components, and in various steps and arrangement of steps, preferred embodiments of which will be illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the surgical marker in accordance with the invention.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a first end of the surgical marker shown in FIG. 1 with a marking wheel removed.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the first end of the surgical marker of FIG. 1 showing a first embodiment of the marking wheel.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the first end of the surgical marker of FIG. 1 showing a second embodiment of the marking wheel.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the surgical marker in accordance which the invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first end of the surgical marker of FIG. 5. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]    It is to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification are simply exemplary embodiments of the inventive concepts. Therefore, specific examples and characteristics relating to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting.  
         [0019]    Referring to FIG. 1, a surgical marker shown generally at  10  includes a body  12  having a first end portion  14  a central portion  16  and a second end portion  18 . The body  12  can make up at least a portion of a handle of the surgical marker. The body has a generally cylindrical shape and can be made of any conventional material, preferably plastic. Since this surgical marker does not require a reservoir, the body can be solid. First end portion  14  is cylindrically shaped as is the central portion  16 . A contoured portion  22  is located at the conjunction of the central portion and the first end portion. The contoured portion  22  can provide a more ergonomic handle for the surgical marker. The second end portion  18  has a tapered end  24  that tapers away from the central portion  16 .  
         [0020]    A neck  26  attaches to the first end portion  14  of the body. The neck can either be attached by fastening or it can be an integral unit with the body  12 . The neck is cylindrical having two arms,  28  and  30 , that project away from the first end portion  14 . A wheel  32  is rotably attached between the arms  28 ,  30 . The neck and the arms can also be made from a solid piece of plastic, containing no channels inside of them. The neck can be detachable from the body so that the neck and wheel can be discarded and the remainder of the marker can be re-used.  
         [0021]    Referring now to FIG. 2, arm  28  includes two forks  34  and  36  and arm  30  includes two forks  38  and  40 . Forks  34  and  36  and arm  28  define an arcuate notch  42  that can receive an axle of wheel  32  (FIG. 1). Arm  30  and forks  38  and  40  define an arcuate notch  44 . Arcuate notch also receives an axle of the wheel  32  shown in FIGS. 1, 3 and  4 . The arcuate portions  42 ,  44  are adapted to surround more than half the periphery of the axle of the wheel. Thus, the wheel can lock into the notch when mounted to the neck, yet the wheel can also be detached from the neck after use.  
         [0022]    Referring now to FIG. 3, the wheel  32  includes a plurality of treads  50  located on a peripheral surface of the wheel. The wheel can be made of a conventional material including an elastomer, a plastic, or other well known material. The wheel in the preferred embodiment is made of a gelatinous ink-soaked polymer. More specifically the wheel comprises a plasticized (approximately 60% ink and approximately 40% resin) felt tip from the medical industry. Such polymers are available from Identity Group, 1480 Gould Drive, Cookeville, Tenn. and the Bacon Felt Co. Other ink-soaked resins could also be used including, but not limited to, polyethylene and polypropylene. The ink-soaked polymer is preferred because it reduces the tendency of the wheel to drag across the patient&#39;s skin, catching some of the skin and causing the skin to “bunch” together. Furthermore, the ink-soaked polymer wheel does not have a tendency to dry out. Also, the ink-soaked polymer wheel eliminates the need for a ink reservoir where channels leading from the reservoir to the wheel may clog. Also, a surgeon using such an ink-soaked polymeric wheel, when marking lines on the patient&#39;s skin, does not need to dip the surgical marker in ink prior to marking the patient&#39;s skin.  
         [0023]    The marking agent or ink used with the wheel can be any conventional marking agent used to mark a patient&#39;s skin. In the present invention the preferred marking agent is Gentian Violet, however other marking agents can be used.  
         [0024]    The wheel  32  includes treads  50  having marking surfaces  52  disposed at a peripheral edge of the treads. The treads  50  are the shape of a frustum of a prism, however, the treads could take form in a number of different shapes. The marking surfaces  52  are spaced from one another resulting in a dotted line on the patient&#39;s skin when the surgeon makes the mark, however, the marking surfaces need not be spaced from one another when a continuous line is desired. The marking surfaces can be flat, or arcuate to match the radius of the wheel so that as large amount of marking surface as possible contacts the patient&#39;s skin. The marking surface can be square, circular or any other shape. The dots that are made by the wheel on the patient&#39;s skin can be spaced apart from one another the conventional distance at which post-operative sutures are placed, or some multiple thereof, i.e. every third dot a suture or other device to close the incision is placed.  
         [0025]    An axle  54  is disposed in the center of the wheel  32 . The axle  54  can be separate from the wheel, or the wheel and axle can be made from one integral unit. As stated before, the axle is received in the arcuate notches  42 ,  44  of the arms  28 ,  30 . The receipt of the axle in the notches allows the wheel to detach from the neck so that the remaining portion of the surgical marker can be re-used.  
         [0026]    With reference to FIG. 4, another embodiment of a wheel of a surgical marker is shown. For ease of illustration and comprehension of this alternative, like components are identified with like numerals with a primed suffix (′) and new components are identified by new numerals.  
         [0027]    A wheel  32 ′ is rotably mounted to a neck  26 ′ between arms  28 ′ and  30 ′. An axle  54 ′ of the wheel is received in the arms  28 ′ and  30 ′. The wheel includes a plurality of treads  60  having markings surfaces  62 . The marking surfaces  62  are cross-shaped having a first portion  64  aligned with a circumference of the wheel and a second portion  66  aligned perpendicular to the circumference of the wheel. The marking surfaces  62  are spaced from one another, similar to the marking surfaces  52  of FIG. 3. The marking surface can be flat, rounded to match the radius of the wheel, or other configuration.  
         [0028]    When the surgeon draws the line prior to incision, the first portion  64  of the marking surfaces creates a dotted line to guide the surgeon when making the incision. The second portion  66  of the marking surface creates a hash mark substantially perpendicular to the line formed by the first portion. The hash marks created by the second portion  66  provide a guide to the surgeon when closing the incision. Accordingly, the second portions  66  are spaced apart from one another such that when a line is drawn on patient&#39;s skin, hash marks are formed a distance from one another that is conventional for the spacing of sutures, or some multiple thereof. The radius of the wheel  32 ′ as measured to the marking surface of the tread and the angle measured between two adjacent treads is controlled by the distance at which the doctor will place sutures post-operatively and vice-versa.  
         [0029]    Referring now to FIG. 5, a surgical marker is generally shown at  110 . The surgical marker includes a body  112  having a first end  114 , a central portion  116  and a second end  118 . The body  112  or handle also includes a contoured portion  122  located at the conjunction of the first end  114  and the central portion  116 . The body or handle portion of the surgical marker  110  is very similar in construction to the marker  10  described above. The surgical marker  112  also includes a bend  124  where a neck  126  joins the body at the first end  114 . The bend shown in FIG. 5 is a 30° degree bend; however, other degrees of bend are contemplated by the scope of the invention.  
         [0030]    Referring to FIG. 6, the neck  126  includes a first arm  128  and a second arm  130 . The first arm  128  is spaced from the second arm  130  so that the arms can receive a wheel  132 . The wheel  132  is similar to the wheel previously described in FIGS. 1, 3 and  4 . The wheel is rotably mounted to the arms  128  and  130  by an axle  154 . The wheel is received in notches defined by forks of which fork  134  and fork  136  are visible in FIG. 6.  
         [0031]    The bend  124  of the surgical marker  110  allows the surgeon to hold more ergonomically the surgical marker when drawing lines on the patient&#39;s skin. The bend also allows the doctor to grip the marker at an angle one typically holds a pen while writing, yet the neck portion is situated substantially normal to the patient&#39;s skin. This orientation of the wheel can lessen the likelihood of the wheel catching any of the patient&#39;s skin, which can cause unwanted bunching of the skin.  
         [0032]    The invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments. Obviously, modifications and alterations will occur to others upon reading and understanding the preceding detailed description. It is intended that the invention be construed as including all such modifications and alterations.