Inflatable balloon retractor with pressure sensing and feedback capabilities for avoidance of excess applied pressure in brain surgery
OwnerRyan PARKinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A pressure sensing balloon retractor for use in brain surgery to avoid mechanical injury to brain tissues. The balloon retractor includes an inflatable balloon that can be inserted in-between brain tissues to increase accessibility during surgery. A pressure transducer connected to a microcontroller senses the pressure of the retractor, and this retractor pressure is compared to the patient’s mean arterial pressure derived from a blood pressure monitor in order to determine whether the pressure exceeds the threshold for brain injury. A load cell can be used to calibrate the microcontroller to remove the effect of elastic pressure on the pressure transducer’s measurements.
Claims9
A self-adjusting balloon retractor to adjust and maintain an incision gap of a patient in a surgery, the self-adjusting balloon retractor comprising:
- an inflatable balloon configured to adjust a space between tissues to create desired space suitable for performing the surgery, wherein the balloon is inflated by controlling the amount of fluid therein;
- and
- a microcontroller controlling the fluid flow to and from the balloon based on an internal fluid pressure data of the balloon and a blood pressure of the patient, wherein a negative feedback loop is maintained such that the microcontroller receives pressure data from a pressure transducer, compares the data to an estimated arterial pressure based on patient blood pressure data, and adjusts a fluid pump accordingly to increase or decrease the retractor’s internal fluid pressure such that injury to surrounding tissues due to excess pressure is avoided;
- a pressure transducer that senses the internal fluid pressure within the apparatus and sends the pressure data to the microcontroller;
- a pump connected to a container of fluid and a pipe such that the microcontroller can control the flow of fluid through the pipe via controlling the pump;
- a fluid reservoir connected to the balloon via a pipe;
- an electronic load cell located under the fluid reservoir and electrically connected to the microcontroller, wherein the load cell sends fluid weight data to the microcontroller;
- a wireless blood pressure monitor connected to the microcontroller wirelessly, either directly or via a smartphone as an intermediate, wherein the monitor sends blood pressure data to the microcontroller;
- a plastic casing comprising:
- a plurality of buttons, each of which has the purpose of manually controlling the pump;
- an electronic display that displays information relevant to the operation of the device.
A method of operating a self-adjusting balloon retractor to adjust and maintain an incision gap of a patient in a surgery, the method comprising:
- adjusting a size of an inflatable balloon by controlling the amount of fluid, wherein the inflatable balloon is configured to create a space between tissues suitable for performing the surgery;
- and
- controlling fluid flow to and from the balloon using a microcontroller based on an internal fluid pressure data of the balloon and a blood pressure of the patient,
- wherein a negative feedback loop is maintained such that the microcontroller receives pressure data from a pressure transducer, compares the data to an estimated arterial pressure based on patient blood pressure data, and adjusts a fluid pump accordingly to increase or decrease the retractor’s internal fluid pressure such that injury to surrounding tissues due to excess pressure is avoided;
- sensing the internal fluid pressure within the apparatus and sending the pressure data to the microcontroller by using a pressure transducer;
- controlling the fluid flow through the pipe via controlling the pump by using the microcontroller,
- wherein a pump is connected to a container of fluid and a pipe, and
- wherein a fluid reservoir is connected to the balloon via a pipe, and
- wherein an electronic load cell is located under the fluid reservoir and electrically connected to the microcontroller, such that the load cell sends fluid weight data to the microcontroller, and
- wherein a wireless blood pressure monitor is connected to the microcontroller wirelessly, either directly or via a smartphone as an intermediate, wherein the monitor sends blood pressure data to the microcontroller;
- wherein a plastic casing comprises:
- a plurality of buttons, each of which has the purpose of manually controlling the pump;
- an electronic display that displays information relevant to the operation of the device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.