Granted Patent B2

US 12,376,794 · App. 18/607,165 · Granted Aug 5, 2025

Inventors: Steffan Sowards (Salt Lake City, UT); Anthony K. Misener (Bountiful, UT); William Robert McLaughlin (Bountiful, UT)

Assignee: Bard Access Systems, Inc.

A61B5/6852A61B5/1076A61M25/0067A61B2034/2061

Abstract

Claims (15)

1. A method of a medical system, comprising:

placing a relay module on a surface;

inserting one or more electrical plugs corresponding to one or more electrical medical devices into a corresponding number of secondary receptacles of the relay module, thereby establishing one or more under-barrier electrical connections between the one or more electrical medical devices and the relay module;

placing a medical barrier over the relay module, thereby establishing a sterile field above the medical barrier; and

inserting a barrier-piercing plug of an optical shape-sensing (“OSS”) medical device through the medical barrier and into a primary receptacle of the relay module, thereby establishing a through-barrier optical connection or a through-barrier optical-and-electrical connection between the OSS medical device in the sterile field and the relay module in a non-sterile field.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising establishing one or more relay connections between the relay module and a remainder of the medical system for relaying optical and electrical signals from the relay module, the one or more relay connections selected from a relay optical connection, a relay optical-and-electrical connection, and a relay electrical connection, provided at least the relay optical connection or the relay optical-and-electrical connection is selected.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relay module includes one or more sensors selected from a gyroscope, an accelerometer, and a magnetometer disposed within a housing of the relay module, the one or more sensors configured to provide sensor data for determining a reference plane for shape sensing with the OSS medical device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein placing the relay module on the surface includes placing the relay module on a table beside a patient, thereby establishing the reference plane for shape sensing with the OSS medical device.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein placing the relay module on the surface includes placing the relay module on a chest of a patient, thereby establishing the reference plane for shape sensing with the OSS medical device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein placing the relay module on the chest of the patient includes adhering a patient-facing surface of the housing of the relay module to the patient, thereby securing the relay module to the patient.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the relay module is amenable to high-level disinfection or sterilization.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising disinfecting the relay module before placing the relay module on a chest of a patient as the surface, thereby enabling a reference plane to be established for shape sensing with the OSS medical device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying an illuminated light-emitting diode (“LED”) disposed in a housing of the relay module proximate the primary receptacle before inserting the barrier-piercing plug of the OSS medical device into the primary receptacle of the relay module.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the LED disposed in the housing of the relay module is configured to illuminate upon establishing the one or more under-barrier electrical connections between the one or more electrical medical devices and the relay module for finding the primary receptacle of the relay module under the medical barrier.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising palpating the primary receptacle under the medical barrier before inserting the barrier-piercing plug of the OSS medical device into the primary receptacle of the relay module.

Continuity (3)

References Cited (400)