The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Jun. 08, 1999
Filed:
May. 15, 1998
Shanon Morgan, Azle, TX (US);
Michael W Keith, Watauga, TX (US);
Kevin P Nelms, Denton, TX (US);
David Mills, Fort Worth, TX (US);
Fieldtech Avionics and Instruments, Inc., Fort Worth, TX (US);
Abstract
An instrument heater for heating a surgical instrument. The instrument heater includes a sheath having an inner and outer wall. The inner wall forms a bore through which the optical scope is inserted. A chemical solution fills the space between the inner and outer wall of the sheath. At one end of the sheath is an activator disk having a chemical substance attached to its surface. When the activator disk is flexed, it ejects the chemical substance and interacts with the chemical solution to initiate an exothermic reaction. The exothermic reaction results in the generation of heat within the sheath, which is transmitted to the surgical instrument. Once the surgical instrument is sufficiently heated to a temperature close to the temperature of a body, the optical scope is inserted into the body. A natural tendency for the instrument to fog up is prevented by the equalizing the temperature of the instrument with the body.