Fiberoptic lighting accessory

#In one aspect, the present invention relates to a lighting accessory system for providing an illuminable tool. More particularly, the present invention relates to a fiberoptic lighting accessory affixable to a surgical or medical tool.

#Practitioners in the surgical arts frequently find themselves with a need for enhanced visualization of a body tissue or other workpieces disposed within body cavities. A variety of illumination systems have been devised to address this need. One option is overhead lighting. Overhead illumination in an operating room is directable, and in some cases focusable, so that a surgeon may use this lighting better to visualize the surgical field. Overhead light sources, however, provide a more general and diffuse type of illumination. Another option involves the use of illuminated devices held in a person's hand. To direct light towards a specific target, surgeons and other operating room personnel may employ handheld lighting instruments, such as lighted retractors or flexible surgical flashlights. If such tools are held by the surgeon, however, they tie up a hand that the surgeon may need for other manipulations. If such tools are held by other members of the surgical team, the person holding the light may not be able to direct it accurately towards what the surgeon wants to have illuminated. To overcome some of the limitations of the aforesaid lighting systems, surgeons may elect to wear conventional surgical headlights. These devices, however, have limitations as well. Surgical headlights commonly are heavy, uncomfortable and hot. The light may require periodic or and possibly frequent redirection so that it is properly aimed along the line of the surgeon's sight. Other members of the operating team may need to exercise caution so that they do not block or strike the surgeon's light, especially when procedures are being undertaken in deep body cavities. The light itself may generate sufficient heat that it can burn tissues if it comes in contact with them. Furthermore, the headlight and all related apparatus is unsterile, so the surgeon and the operating team must be cautious so as to avoid contamination of the surgical field. A need therefore remains in the art to provide an easy to use lighting system that may be directed specifically at a surgical site or other workpiece being manipulated. There is a further need in the art for such a system adapted for single use disposability. Advantageously, such a system would avoid interference with the actual performance of the operation, including the motions and maneuvers carried out by the entire surgical team to carry out the surgery safely.

#Other settings will be evident to those of ordinary skill in related arts where a lighting accessory directable to a recessed area or other inaccessible region would be useful. In particular, there is a need for a tool that can illuminate an object to be grasped in a difficult to reach area and that will not obstruct the grasping of the object.

#The following figures depict certain illustrative embodiments of the invention in which like reference numerals refer to like elements. These depicted embodiments are to be understood as illustrative of the invention and not limiting in any way.

#FIGS. 1A-D are perspective views of embodiments of lighting accessory system according to the present invention.

#FIG. 2 provides a perspective view of a lighting accessory system according to the present invention.

#Certain principles of the present invention will be illustrated by a description of embodiments particularly useful in the field of medicine. It is recognized, however, that these principles are readily applicable to other fields of use, as will be appreciated by skilled artisans in the relevant disciplines.

#FIG. 1-A shows an embodiment of a lighted forceps system 10 according to the present invention. In the illustrated embodiment, a forceps 20 is shown that may be adapted for use in a setting such as surgery, to which is attached a lighting system. The lighting system includes an anchoring base 12, a lightguide 14, and a fiber optic cable assembly 18. In the depicted embodiment, the lightguide 14 passes through an aperture 22 in the anchoring base 12. The lightguide 14 may be formed of a hypo tube or of any other suitable material through which may pass the distal end of the fiber optic cable assembly 18. The lightguide 14 may hold the distal end of the fiber optic cable assembly 18 parallel to the shank of the forceps in a rigid fashion. In one embodiment, the distalmost end of the fiber optic cable assembly 18 may protrude from the lightguide 14, or the fiber optic fiber may end flush with the distal end of the lightguide 14. It is envisioned that the lightguide 14 may be combined with prisms, lenses or other optical instrumentation that might permit focusing, redirection, amplification or other modification of the light beam, as will be appreciated by practitioners of ordinary skill in the art. In the depicted embodiment, the anchoring base 12 of the lighting system is formed to slide over the proximal end of the forceps 20. Advantageously, the anchoring base 12 may be fabricated from an elastomeric or rigid material so that it can slide onto the proximal end of the forceps 20 with finger pressure, and so it further will be retained thereon. Various elastomeric materials may be used to form the anchoring base 12, as will be understood by practitioners in the relevant arts. In certain embodiments, the present invention may be suited for single use as a disposable product. In other embodiments, the present invention may be formed of materials permitting resterilization for multiple use, and some or all of the components may be so adapted. Certain embodiments of the invention, as depicted in this and other figures of the present disclosure, may be provided to the user in large, multi-device packs usable in open or in laparoscopic surgical procedures, and certain embodiments may contain all or some of the components of the present invention provided disposably or reusably. The lighting system of the present invention may also be combined with radio-opaque markers so that an inadvertently dislodged device could be detected within a body cavity.

#The dimensions of the anchoring base 12 can be varied depending on the size of the tool and the elastomer used. A preferred embodiment of the base which will fit the majority of forceps used in surgery may be manufactured out of 55A durometer Dynaflex G792755 elastomer. Certain of its features are illustrated in FIGS. 8A and 8B. Dynaflex® G792755, containing Krayton®, is a product available from GLS Plastics of 833 Ridgeview Drive, McHenry, Ill. 60050. As shown in FIG. 8A, the anchor base 12 has a central slot 13 having a uniform height of about 0.500 inches and a width that varies from about 0.090 at the opening 15 of the slot 13 to a narrower width of about 0.050 inches at a preselected position 17, here shown to be about halfway in the slot. The wider opening 15 in the slot provides an adequate interference fit for larger forceps, and the narrower dimension of the slot 13 at the preselected position 17 provides an adequate interference fit for smaller or thinner forceps. The slot 13 may be optionally radiused or chamfered or modified in other ways to facilitate fixation of the forceps, entry of the forceps into the slot 13 or removal therefrom, as will be appreciated by ordinarily skilled artisans. The depicted embodiment advantageously maximizes the range of forceps that can securely fit in the slot 13. In the depicted embodiment, forceps with a width from about 0.137 to about 0.075 inches may fit securely in the slot 13 because of the tight friction fit involved. While the depicted embodiment shows, in FIG. 8B, a slot 13 with a height of about 0.500 inches, the precise height of the anchoring base 12 and its slot 13 may be varied without consequence, since the forceps (not shown) is stabilized in the anchoring base 12 by the friction generated along its sides as they contact the lateral walls of the slot 13. Since a majority of commercially available forceps usable with this product have height dimensions less than 0.500 inches, with a range of 0.393 to 0.480 inches being known in the art, an exemplary height for the slot 13 of 0.500 inches may be used.