Sterile drape
AssigneeMinrad Inc.
InventorsJohn C. McNeirney, William H. Burns JR.
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A sterile drape serving to preserve the sterile integrity of an operating field is disclosed. The drape has a rigid optically clear window which allows a visible light beam, such as a laser beam, to exit a targeting device without refraction or distortion that could result in misalignment of the visible light beam relative to a targeted object. The rigid optically clear window is made of a material having an ability to transmit light and which ability remains substantially unchanged after the drape has undergone a gamma radiation sterilization process.
Claims13
A protective cover for maintaining contamination-free environment relative to a targeting device which generates a collimated visible light beam and which is associated with an object, the cover comprising:
- a flexible material having a size large enough to cover the targeting device generating the collimated visible light beam, the material having an opening therein to allow passage of the collimated light beam therethrough;
- and
- a rigid non-flexible window element fixed to the periphery of the opening, the window element being made of an optically clear material having an ability to transmit the collimated visible light beam, which ability remains substantially unchanged after the window element has been exposed to gamma-radiation.
A system for undistorted transmission of a visible light beam along a predetermined direction, the system comprising:
- a targeting device generating the visible light beam, the device having a device window through which the visible light beam travels along the predetermined direction;
- a holding element extending across the device window, the holding element having opposite ends, the holding element being attached to the targeting device at the opposite ends;
- and
- a protective cover having a flexible body with an opening and an optically clear window bonded to the flexible body, whereby the optically clear window can be fitted along a portion of its periphery between the holding element and the device window in order to maintain proper alignment between the device window and the optically clear window.
A method of unrefracted transmission of a visible light beam through an optically clear window along a predetermined direction, the visible light beam being generated by a targeting device having a device window disposed in a plane, the method comprising:
- positioning the optically clear window across the device window;
- determining the presence of a secondary light beam produced as a result of refraction of the visible light beam propagating through the optically clear window when the optically clear window is misaligned with the plane of the device window;
- and
- adjusting the optically clear window with respect to the device window when the presence of the secondary light beam has been determined, so that the secondary light beam disappears and only the visible light beam travels along the predetermined direction.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.