US 12,343,117 B2
Fiber optic medical systems and methods for identifying blood vessels
Anthony K. Misener, Bountiful, UT (US); Shayne Messerly, Kaysville, UT (US); Steffan Sowards, Salt Lake City, UT (US); and William Robert McLaughlin, Bountiful, UT (US)
Assigned to Bard Access Systems, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (US)
Filed by Bard Access Systems, Inc., Salt Lake City, UT (US)
Filed on Jun. 28, 2022, as Appl. No. 17/852,138.
Prior Publication US 2023/0414112 A1, Dec. 28, 2023
Int. Cl. A61B 5/02 (2006.01); A61B 5/00 (2006.01); A61B 8/00 (2006.01); A61B 34/20 (2016.01)
CPC A61B 5/02007 (2013.01) [A61B 5/6852 (2013.01); A61B 8/488 (2013.01); A61B 34/20 (2016.02)] 20 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A medical system, comprising:
an optical fiber configured for insertion within a blood vessel, the optical fiber having one or more core fibers extending along a longitudinal length of the optical fiber, each of the one or more core fibers including a plurality of sensors distributed along the longitudinal length and each sensor of the plurality of sensors configured to (i) reflect a light signal of a different spectral width based on received incident light, and (ii) change a characteristic of the reflected light signal based on a state of the optical fiber; and
a console operatively coupled with the optical fiber, the console including a light source, an optical receiver, one or more processors, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored thereon logic that, when executed by the one or more processors, causes operations including:
projecting a light distally along the optical fiber;
receiving at least one reflected light signal from the optical fiber, wherein the at least one reflected light signal is generated by a sensor of the optical fiber;
determining, based on the at least one reflected light signal, that the blood vessel is a vein or is an artery; and
communicating a result of the determining to a user.