| CPC A61B 8/4227 (2013.01) [A61B 8/0891 (2013.01)] | 21 Claims |
|
1. A guide structure configured for placement on a patient's skin and to hold a medical probe and adjustably position the medical probe over a region of a surface of the patient's skin, comprising:
a base configured to rest on the surface of the patient's skin, the base including first and second arms separated by an open space and having respective first and second open ends and respective first and second closed ends interconnected by a medial section, the first arm having a first interior surface and a first exterior surface, and the second arm having a second interior surface and a second exterior surface, the first and second interior surfaces being opposed to each other;
a first carriage guide surface extending lengthwise between the first open and closed ends of the first arm;
a second carriage guide surface extending lengthwise between the second open and closed ends of the second arm, the first and second carriage guide surfaces being plane parallel to each other;
a first carriage adjustment channel formed lengthwise between the first open and closed ends of the first arm and including a lengthwise extending first gear rack;
a second carriage adjustment channel formed lengthwise between the second open and closed ends of the second arm and including a lengthwise extending second gear rack, the first and second carriage adjustment channels being spatially aligned with each other and in spaced-apart relation to the first and second carriage guide surfaces;
a carriage including an undercarriage and a carriage post, the undercarriage including first and second support portions laterally extending in opposite directions relative to one another, the first and second support portions configured to move along the respective first and second carriage guide surfaces and thereby form a movable bridge spanning the open space separating the first and second arms of the base, the carriage further including first and second spaced-apart shaft tunnels extending in a direction transverse to the first and second arms of the base;
a medical probe holder operatively connected to the carriage post and configured for motion transverse to the first and second arms to set, to a desired distance into the open space separating the first and second arms, a medical probe placed in the medical probe holder; and
a carriage translation actuator in operative association with the undercarriage to move the carriage and thereby adjust a position of the medical probe over the surface of the patient's skin on which the base has been set, wherein the carriage translation actuator further comprises:
an actuator shaft sized to fit into one of the first and second shaft tunnels of the carriage and having opposite ends on which first and second drive gears are set to mesh with the respective first and second gear racks; and
a follower shaft sized to fit into the other one of the first and second shaft tunnels of the carriage and having opposite ends on which first and second follower gears are set to mesh with the respective first and second gear racks, whereby the operative association of the carriage translation actuator and the undercarriage includes, in response to a rotational force applied to the actuator shaft, rotation of the actuator shaft and thereby rotation of the follower shaft and movement of the carriage to adjust the position of the medical probe over the surface of the patient's skin on which the base has been set.
|