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US 6,640,121 B1Granted
Otic microprobe for neuro-cochlear monitoring
AssigneeUniversity of Miami
InventorsFred Telischi, Ozcan Ozdamar, Jean-Marie Parel, Fabrice Manns
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Abstract
A microprobe useful for assessing auditory function by enabling clinical and intraoperative measurements of blood flow, particularly cochlear blood flow and neural compound action potentials, particularly of the auditory nerve (cranial nerve VIII) is disclosed. In addition, a monitoring system containing this microprobe and a method of using the microprobe are described.
Claims40
An otic microprobe system comprising:
- an integrated unit having an insertion end and a connection end, the integrated unit comprising
- a fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe constructed and adapted to measure blood flow and velocity;
- and
- an electrocochleography electrode;
- the connection end of the integrated unit being adapted to be coupled to an interface unit, the interface unit having
- a laser Doppler interface unit including a first laser excitation source and a laser light detector adapted to be coupled to the fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe;
- a differential bioamplifier adapted to be coupled to the electrocochleography electrode;
- and
- a controller adapted to receive inputs from the laser Doppler interface unit and the differential bioamplifier and to generate coordinated electrocochleography and laser Doppler measurements.
6 more elements
A method of monitoring auditory function in a patient comprising:
- inserting an integrated otic microprobe unit having an insertion end and a connection end, the integrated otic microprobe unit comprising
- a fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe constructed and adapted to measure blood flow and velocity;
- and
- an electrocochleography electrode into a patient's ear;
- positioning the insertion end of the integrated otic microprobe unit in an operational position;
- stimulating an auditory response from the patient;
- measuring cochlear blood flow using the fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe;
- measuring compound action potentials of cranial nerve VIII using the electrocochleography electrode;
- and
- assessing auditory function by comparing measured cochlear blood flow and measured compound action potentials with baseline measured cochlear blood flow values and baseline measured compound action potentials.
7 more elements
An otic microprobe comprising:
- an integrated unit having an insertion end and a connection end, the integrated unit comprising:
- a fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe constructed and adapted to measure blood flow and velocity, wherein the fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe comprises at least one emission optical fiber and one or more sensing optical fibers;
- and
- an electrocochleography electrode.
1 more element
An otic microprobe system comprising:
- an integrated unit having an insertion end and a connection end, the integrated unit comprising:
- a fiber optic laser Doppler flowmetry probe constructed and adapted to measure blood flow and velocity, and
- an electrocochleography electrode,
- and wherein the integrated unit is connected to instrumentation to measure the blood flow and velocity.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.