Vein harvesting system and method
AssigneeEmbro Corporation
InventorsDavid R. Knighton, Vance D. Fiegel
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tissue illumination system and a method for harvesting a section of a blood vessel from a patient's body for further use. The tissue illumination system includes a light catheter inserted into a lumen of the blood vessel section to illuminate the vessel section and vessel side branches with an intensity which is visible to the physician from an exterior of the vessel section and also includes a viewing element insertable into the lumen and capable of viewing the illuminated vessel section. The tissue illumination system also includes at least one tool insertable into the lumen and used to harvest the vessel section.
Claims20
A method of harvesting tissue from a human or animal body for use in coronary bypass surgery, the method comprising:
- inserting a light catheter into an interior region of a blood vessel and illuminating the blood vessel with the light catheter;
- positioning an elongate tool towards a side of the blood vessel, the elongate tool having a curved structure located at a distal end thereof capable of surrounding all or portions of the blood vessel;
- advancing the elongate tool to encounter side branches;
- and
- cutting the side branches.
A system for harvesting a section of a vessel from an incision in a human or animal body comprising:
- an elongate light catheter configured to illuminate substantially an entire section of a vessel the elongate light catheter is inserted into;
- an elongate tool independently moveable to and away from the light catheter, the elongate tool having a curved feature configured to facilitate the locating of side branches when placed about and moved along the vessel, the curved feature located at the elongate tool's distal end for at least partially surrounding the vessel;
- and
- an optical viewing detector for viewing an area immediately adjacent the tool's distal end.
A system for harvesting a section of a vessel from an incision in a human or animal body, the system comprising:
- a catheter sized and configured to be inserted into a lumen of the vessel, the catheter being configured to illuminate an entire length of the vessel section with an intensity which is visible from an exterior of the vessel section;
- a viewing element configured to be insertable through the incision and capable of viewing the illuminated vessel section;
- and
- an elongate tool comprising a curved portion at a distal region thereof for at least partially circumscribing the vessel section, the elongate tool being sized to be inserted through the incision.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.