Medical devices and methods for penetrating an anatomical structure based on sensed electrical characteristics
AssigneesSpine Gaurd, Sorbonne Universite, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Inserm (Institut National De La Sante Et De La Recherche Medicale)
InventorsStephane Bette, Jimmy Da Silva, Thibault Chandanson, Guillaume Morel, Maurice Bourlion
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A medical device for penetrating a bone structure including a processing unit having a transfer function that associates an electrical conductivity value S with a depth value d, wherein the processing unit is configured to detect a threshold selected from amongst an absolute threshold, a relative threshold and a critical gradient, and to emit a warning signal and/or control signal responsive to detection of the threshold.
Claims29
A medical device for penetrating an anatomical structure having multiple anatomical media with a range of electrical characteristics, the medical device comprising:
- a body having a tip disposed at its distal end configured to penetrate into the anatomical structure, a first electrode having a first contact surface disposed at the distal end, a second electrode having a second contact surface disposed at the distal end and spaced apart from the first contact surface;
- and
- a processing unit operably coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode, the processing unit configured to:
- store a set of criteria representative of an electrical characteristic of an anatomical medium as a function of depth in the anatomical medium;
- measure an electrical characteristic of tissue disposed between the first contact surface and the second contact surface;
- determine a critical gradient as at least one slope p(d) of an evolution of electrical characteristic values as a function of depth, representative of a change in a first anatomical medium towards a second anatomical medium;
- detect, using the set of criteria, an electrical characteristic threshold from amongst an absolute threshold, a relative threshold, and the critical gradient;
- and
- emit a warning signal responsive to detection of the electrical characteristic threshold indicative of a predetermined transition between anatomical media.
A method of penetrating an anatomical structure having multiple anatomical media with a medical device, the multiple anatomical media having a range of electrical characteristics, the medical device including a body having a tip disposed at its distal end configured to penetrate into the anatomical structure, a first electrode having a first contact surface disposed at the distal end, a second electrode having a second contact surface disposed at the distal end and spaced apart from the first contact surface, and a processing unit operably coupled to the first electrode and the second electrode, the method comprising:
- storing in the processing unit a set of criteria representative of an electrical characteristic of an anatomical medium as a function of depth in the anatomical medium;
- contacting the first contact surface and the second contact surface to the anatomical structure;
- measuring an electrical characteristic of tissue disposed between the first contact surface and the second contact surface;
- determining a critical gradient as at least one slope p(d) of an evolution of electrical characteristic values as a function of depth, representative of a change in a first anatomical medium towards a second anatomical medium;
- detecting, using the set of criteria processed by the processing unit, a threshold amongst an absolute threshold, a relative threshold, and the critical gradient;
- and
- emitting from the processing unit a warning signal responsive to detection of the threshold indicative of a predetermined transition between anatomical media.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.