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. 17, 2003
Filed:
May. 07, 2001
Robert R. Burnside, Mountain View, CA (US);
Bruce Wand, San Jose, CA (US);
David K. Swanson, Mountain View, CA (US);
SciMed Life Systems, Inc., Maple Grove, MN (US);
Abstract
A medical system for limiting the re-use of a medical probe, such as, e.g., a catheter or a surgical probe, is provided. The medical system includes a medical probe that includes an electronic storage component for storing a probe identification code. The medical probe further includes a disabling circuit, the activation of which disables the electronic storage component. The medical system further includes a control unit, such as, e.g., an RF generator, for connection to the medical probe. The control unit includes control circuit that is configured for automatically reading the probe identification code from the electronic storage component and preventing the medical probe from being operated if the probe identification code is not approved. If the medical probe has been previously used, the control circuit prevents operation of the medical probe and activates the disabling circuitry to disable the electronic storage component in the medical probe.