Patent ID: RE44049

Claim:
A hand-held combination surgical nerve evaluator and locator comprising: a handpiece comprising a housing that accommodates a circuit board connected to a DC voltage source, the circuit board comprising a pulsed current source, the pulsed current source being connected to a first electrical lead, the housing also being connected to a second electrical lead, the first and second electrical leads extending outward from one end of the housing in a parallel and spaced-apart fashion, the circuit board and pulsed current source being connected to a nerve evaluation on/off switch and a nerve location on/off switch, movement of the nerve evaluation switch to an activation position causing a first pulsed current to be generated by the pulsed current source and transmitted to the first electrical lead, the first pulsed current having a nerve evaluation frequency, a nerve evaluation pulse duration and a nerve evaluation amplitude, movement of the nerve location switch to an activation position causing a second pulsed current to be generated by the pulsed current source and transmitted to the first electrical lead, the second pulsed current having a nerve location frequency, a nerve location pulse duration and a nerve location amplitude, the nerve evaluation frequency being less than the nerve location frequency, the nerve evaluation pulse duration being less than the nerve location pulse duration, and the nerve evaluation amplitude being less than the nerve location amplitude, the second electrical lead serving as a ground.