# US 12,251,273 B2 · Illuminated suction apparatus > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 12,251,273 B2 - Document ID: US12251273B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 17/828,951 - Filed: 2022-05-31 - Published: 2022-09-22 - Granted: 2025-03-18 - Earliest claimed: 2009-11-10 - Assignees: Invuity, Inc. - Applicants: Invuity, Inc. - Inventors: Alex Vayser; Fernando Erismann; Kenneth B. Trauner; Jonathan G. Gasson; Derrick Richardson - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12251273B2 ## CPC - A61B 90/30: Devices for illuminating a surgical field, the devices having an interrelation with other surgical devices or with a surgical procedure - A61B 1/0017: {Details of single optical fibres, e.g. material or cladding} - A61B 1/07: using light-conductive means, e.g. optical fibres - A61M 1/76: {Handpieces (specially for suction-irrigation A61M1/774, aspiration tips A61M1/84)} - A61M 1/84: {Drainage tubes; Aspiration tips (for negative pressure wound therapy A61M1/90; for surgical cutting instruments A61B17/32)} - G02B 23/2469: {using optical fibres} - A61M 1/7411: {by changing the size of a vent (in combination with changing the cross-section of the line A61M1/7413)} - B29C 65/08: using ultrasonic vibrations {(non-plastics element to plastics elements B29C65/645)} - B29C 65/48: using adhesives {, i.e. using supplementary joining material; solvent bonding} - B29C 65/58: Snap connection - B29C 66/71: {characterised by the composition of the plastics material of the parts to be joined (welding bar compositions B29C65/125)} - A61B: DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION (usefulness limited to only animals A61D) - A61M: DEVICES FOR INTRODUCING MEDIA INTO, OR ONTO, THE BODY (introducing media into or onto the bodies of animals A61D7/00; means for inserting tampons A61F13/26; devices for administering food or medicines orally A61J; containers for collecting, storing or administering blood or medical fluids A61J1/05); DEVICES FOR TRANSDUCING BODY MEDIA OR FOR TAKING MEDIA FROM THE BODY (surgery A61B; chemical aspects of surgical articles A61L); DEVICES FOR PRODUCING OR ENDING SLEEP OR STUPOR {(Electrotherapy, e.g. producing anaesthesia by the use of alternating or intermittent currents A61N1/36021)} - G02B: OPTICAL ELEMENTS, SYSTEMS OR APPARATUS - B29C: SHAPING OR JOINING OF PLASTICS; SHAPING OF MATERIAL IN A PLASTIC STATE, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR; AFTER-TREATMENT OF THE SHAPED PRODUCTS, e.g. REPAIRING (making preforms B29B11/00; making laminated products by combining previously unconnected layers which become one product whose layers will remain together B32B37/00 - B32B41/00) ## Abstract An illuminated suction apparatus including a hand-held surgical device combining a high-performance illumination waveguide with suction. This device would be useful in a wide array of various surgical procedures including open and minimally invasive orthopedics. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A surgical device, comprising: a suction tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and a central portion extending between the proximal end and the distal end; an optical waveguide coupled to the suction tube with an air gap between the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein the optical waveguide has a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to transmit light from the proximal portion to the distal portion by total internal reflection; and an outer optical cladding coupled to the optical waveguide, wherein the outer optical cladding surrounds the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein a distal portion of the suction tube extends distally from a distalmost end of the outer optical cladding and a distalmost end of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein a proximal portion of the suction tube and a proximal portion of the optical waveguide are disposed within a common handle. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the outer optical cladding has an index of refraction that is lower than an index of refraction of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The surgical device of claim 3, wherein the index of refraction of the outer optical cladding is between 1.29 and 1.67. ### Claim 5 (depends on 4) The surgical device of claim 4, wherein the index of refraction of the optical waveguide is between 1.46 and 1.7. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the optical waveguide comprises a bend that defines an angle between a proximal portion of the optical waveguide and a distal portion of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 7 (depends on 6) The surgical device of claim 6, wherein the angle is greater than 150 degrees. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional shape of the optical waveguide transitions from a solid cylinder shape to a crescent shape. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein a cross-sectional area of the optical waveguide increases in a direction from the proximal end of the optical waveguide to the distal end of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, further comprising a fiber optic cable coupled to the proximal end of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of standoffs between the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein the plurality of standoffs inhibit engagement between a portion of the suction tube and a portion of the optical waveguide to thereby define the air gap between the portion of the suction tube and the portion of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The surgical device of claim 1, wherein the suction tube is formed from a metal. ### Claim 13 A method of forming a surgical device, comprising: providing a suction tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and a central portion extending between the proximal end and the distal end; coupling an optical waveguide to the suction tube with an air gap between the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein the optical waveguide has a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to transmit light from the proximal portion to the distal portion by total internal reflection; and coupling an outer optical cladding to the optical waveguide, wherein the outer optical cladding surrounds the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein a distal portion of the suction tube extends distally from a distalmost end of the outer optical cladding and a distalmost end of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 14 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising forming the optical waveguide with a cross-sectional shape that transitions from a solid cylinder shape to a crescent shape. ### Claim 15 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising forming the optical waveguide with a cross-sectional area that increases in a direction from the proximal end of the optical waveguide to the distal end of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 16 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising forming the optical waveguide with a bend that defines an angle between a proximal portion of the optical waveguide and a distal portion of the optical waveguide. ### Claim 17 (depends on 16) The method of claim 16, wherein the angle is greater than 150 degrees. ### Claim 18 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, further comprising forming a handle having a first input for coupling the optical waveguide to a light source and as second input for coupling the suction tube to a suction source. ### Claim 19 (depends on 13) The method of claim 13, wherein the suction tube is formed from a metal. ### Claim 20 A method of illuminating a surgical field, comprising: providing a surgical device comprising: a suction tube having a proximal end, a distal end, and a central portion extending between the proximal end and the distal end, an optical waveguide coupled to the suction tube with an air gap between the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein the optical waveguide has a proximal portion and a distal portion, wherein the optical waveguide is configured to transmit light from the proximal portion to the distal portion by total internal reflection, and an outer optical cladding coupled to the optical waveguide, wherein the outer optical cladding surrounds the optical waveguide and the suction tube, wherein a distal portion of the suction tube extends distally from a distalmost end of the outer optical cladding and a distalmost end of the optical waveguide; positioning the surgical device adjacent to a surgical field; delivering light from the proximal portion of the optical waveguide to the distal portion of the optical waveguide; and emitting the light from the distal portion of the optical waveguide to illuminate the surgical field. ### Claim 21 (depends on 20) The method of claim 20, further comprising applying suction to the suction tube.