SURGICAL LIGHT DEVICE AND LIGHTHEAD FOR SURGICAL LIGHT DEVICE

Abstract

A surgical device includes a light source and an illumination unit having a lighthead that is connected to a mount by one or more support arms which are pivotally connected through joint units. The mount is provided for mounting the illumination unit to a supporting structure. The light source is disposed remotely from the lighthead, in particular not mounted on the lighthead, and is coupled to the lighthead by light conductors. In addition, a lighthead for a surgical light device is disclosed, including an optical connector that is configured to be connectable to a light conductor which is connected to a light source.

Claims

1-11. (canceled)

12. A surgical light device, comprising: a light source; an illumination unit including a lighthead disposed remotely from said light source, a mount connected to said lighthead for mounting said illumination unit to a supporting structure, said mount including at least one support arm and joint units pivotally connected to said at least one support arm; and at least one light conductor coupling said light source to said lighthead.

13. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said light source is not mounted on said lighthead.

14. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said light source is physically separate from said illumination unit.

15. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said light source is positioned inside said at least one support arm or within said mount.

16. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said at least one optical conductor is disposed inside said at least one support arm.

17. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said at least one support arm includes a plurality of support arms, and light couplers for transmitting light between said support arms are disposed inside at least one of said joint units.

18. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said illumination unit is composed of a non-magnetic material.

19. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein at least one of said at least one support arm or said joint units or said mount is composed of a non-magnetic material.

20. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said lighthead includes a light distributor for distributing light transmitted from said light source through said at least one optical conductor.

21. The surgical light device according to claim 12, wherein said lighthead is configured to be detachable from said at least one support arm and said lighthead includes an optical connector configured to be connectable to said at least one light conductor connected to said light source.

22. A lighthead for a surgical light device, the lighthead comprising: an optical connector configured to be connectable to a light conductor connected to a light source; the lighthead being composed of only one or more non-magnetic materials.

23. The lighthead for a surgical light device according to claim 22, wherein the lighthead is attachable to and detachable from a support arm.

24. The lighthead for a surgical light device according to claim 23, wherein said support arm is a most distant one of a plurality of support arms being most distant from the light source.

25. The lighthead for a surgical light device according to claim 22, which further comprises a light distributor for distributing light transmitted to the lighthead by said optical connector.

Description

[0056] The above and further features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference signs designate like features, and in which:

[0057] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a surgical light device according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0058] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a surgical light device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

[0059] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration of a surgical light device according to yet another embodiment of the present invention;

[0060] FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a joint unit that is configured as a hinge joint;

[0061] FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a lighthead according to the present invention.

[0062] FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a surgical light device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The surgical light device comprises a light source 1 and an illuminating unit. The illuminating unit comprises a mount 3.1, support arms, joint units 3.4 and a lighthead 4. In FIG. 1, three support arms 3.3.1, 3.3.2 and 3.3.3 are shown, the entirety of which is denoted by 3.3 in the following.

[0063] The mount 3.1 comprises a mounting section 3.1.1 for attachment to a support structure and a support section 3.1.2 for connecting the mount 3.1 to support arm 3.3.1. Support section 3.1.2 may be pivotally attached to the mount 3.1 such that it may rotate or, alternatively, it may be fixed to the mount 3.1. The mount 3.1 shown in FIG. 1 is configured as a ceiling mount for mounting the illuminating unit to a ceiling. It is also possible to configure the mount 3.1 as a wall mount, with the support section 3.1.2 extending horizontally from the mounting section 3.1.1. It is further possible to configure the mount 3.1 as a clampable mount with a mounting section 3.1.1 that comprises a clamp mechanism that is clampable to a sheet-like support structure or a rod-like structure.

[0064] The support arm 3.3.1 is pivotally attached to the support section 3.1.2 by a rotational joint (not shown) that allows the support arm 3.3.1 to be rotated around an axis defined by the support section 3.1.2. The support arm 3.3.1 that is attached to the support section 3.1.2 with one end is connected to a further support arm 3.3.2 at its other end via a joint unit 3.4. The support arm 3.3.2 is connected to a further support arm 3.3.3 by a further joint unit 3.4. The support arm 3.3.3 is connected to the lighthead 4. The connection between support arm 3.3.3 and the lighthead 4 may be rigid or, alternatively, be constituted by a further joint unit. The support arm 3.3.3 has a bent shape that facilitates adjusting the position and orientation of the lighthead 4.

[0065] The light source 1 comprises a power supply (not shown) and generates light that is coupled into a light conductor 2. The light conductor 2 is connected to the light source 1 via a suitable connector. The light conductor 2 may be realized by a fiber optic cable or by a fiber optic bundle composed of a plurality of optical fibers. As connector, a conventional fiber optical coupler may be employed. The light coupled into the light conductor 2 is transmitted through the light conductor 2 to the illumination unit.

[0066] In the illumination unit, an optical path is established by a continuous connection of light conductors 2 that is guided to the lighthead 4. The light conductors 2 are arranged inside the support arms 3.3 that are configured as hollow components. In the lighthead 4, the light is coupled into an optical light distributor 4.1 that is adapted to distribute the light over an extended area in the lighthead 4 so that an even illumination pattern can be achieved over a sufficiently large area.

[0067] The light conductors 2 in the individual support arms are connected by light couplers 2.1. The light couplers 2.1 provide an optical connection between the individual light conductors 2. The joint units 3.4 shown in FIG. 1 are depicted as rotation joints that enable pivoting motion of the connected support arms in two mutually parallel planes. In the joint units 3.4 shown in FIG. 1, the optical connection lies on the axis of rotation of the joint unit 3.4.

[0068] A pivoting motion of the support arms 3.3 around the axis of rotation of the joint unit 3.4 induces torsional strain in the optical connection, since the optical connection is positioned on the axis of rotation of the joint unit 3.4. If a section of light conductor 2 itself were used as optical connection in the rotation joint 3.4, the torsional strain would potentially lead to damage or breakage of the light conductor. For this reason, the light couplers 2.1 are provided as optical connection inside the joint units 3.4. The light couplers 2.1 are preferably configured as fiber optic rotary joints that provide an optical connection between the light conductors 2 in adjacent support arms 3.3 that remains unaffected by pivoting motions of the support arms 3.3.

[0069] FIG. 2 shows an alternative embodiment of the surgical light unit according to the present invention. The configuration of the illumination unit of FIG. 2 is essentially identical to that of FIG. 1. However, in the embodiment according to FIG. 2, the light source 1 is positioned inside the mount 3.1.

[0070] FIG. 3 shows a further embodiment of the surgical light device according of the present invention. The configuration of the illumination unit of FIG. 3 strongly resembles that of FIGS. 1 and 2. However, in the embodiment according to FIG. 3, the light source 1 is positioned inside a support arm 3.3. As shown in FIG. 3, the light source 1 is preferably positioned inside the first (proximal) support arm 3.3.1 that is directly connected to the mount 3.1. By such a configuration, sufficient distance between the light source 1 and the lighthead 4 is still maintained.

[0071] The embodiment according to FIG. 3 bears the advantage that the light source 1 is installed in the support arm structure that the corresponding light head 4 is connected to. By such a configuration, multiple support arm structures, e.g. 2 or 3 support arm structures, may be mounted to the mount 3.1, each support arm structure carrying an individual light source 1 or at least one of them carrying light source 1. This allows for a highly flexible and modular surgical lighting arrangement.

[0072] According to the embodiment of FIG. 3 the power source 1 has to be connected to an electrical power source. For this, a power line 1.1 is provided in the support 3.1. Since the first support arm 3.3.1 in which the light source 1 is installed is pivotally attached to the support section 3.1.2, an electrical sliding contact 1.2 is provided, in order to establish a rotatable electrical connection that is unaffected by pivoting motions of the support arm 3.3.1. The electrical sliding contact 1.2 may be configured as a slip ring.

[0073] Joint units 3.4 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are rotational joints. One or more joint units 3.4 of the illumination unit may also be replaced by hinge joints or ball joints. In this case, the light couplers 2.1 may be omitted. FIG. 4 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a joint unit 3.4 that connects two support arms 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 and is configured as a hinge joint. The hinge joint comprises an opening inside the joint unit 3.4 through which the light conductor 2 can be guided. Since the light conductor 2 is flexible and the hinge joint only allows a pivoting motion of the support arms 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 in a common plane that does not induce a torsional strain in the light conductor 2, the light coupler 2.1 used in the rotational joints of FIGS. 1 to 3 may be omitted. The optical connection between the two adjacent support arms 3.3.1 and 3.3.2 is established by a continuous light conductor 2 in this case. The same optical connection can be employed if the joint unit 3.4 is established by a ball joint.

[0074] In the embodiments described above, the surgical light device comprises one light source 1 that is positioned remotely from the lighthead 4 and coupled thereto by one optical path of serially connected light conductors 2. The surgical light device according to the present invention may also comprise a plurality of light sources 1, and/or a plurality of optical paths. The light emitted from multiple light sources may be coupled into a common optical path, or individual light sources may be provided with separate optical light sources that are guided to lighthead 4, respectively. Such configurations allow to increase the light intensity available in the lighthead 4.

[0075] It is also possible to provide light of various colors of the visible spectrum at the lighthead 4 by providing light sources that emit light of defined wavelengths. Light of distinct colors emitted from different light sources may be transmitted to the lighthead 4 via separate light conductors 2 or may be merged by coupling it into a common light conductor 2. By each of these configurations it is possible to provide a surgical light device with a lighthead 4 of low weight that requires no electronic components (but only passive components), which is suitable for use in a magnetically sensitive environment whilst providing light with high intensity of whatever desired color.

[0076] The connection between the lighthead 4 and its adjacent support arm 3.3.3 may be configured such that the lighthead 4 is detachable from the support arm 3.3.3. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a lighthead 4 according to the present invention. The lighthead 4 comprises an optical connector 4.2 that may be realized by an optical coupler connectable to an output coupler provided on a light conductor 2 in the support arm 3.3.3. If multiple optical paths are provided in the illumination unit, the lighthead 4 may comprise the respective number of optical connectors 4.2 for connecting the lighthead 4 to multiple light sources.

[0077] The optical light distributor 4.1 that is configured to distribute the light transmitted to the lighthead via the optical connector 4.2 is illustrated as a circle with four straight connections in FIG. 5, but may have an arbitrary shape on the lighthead 4. By varying the shape of the light distributor 4.1, the light emission pattern of the lighthead 4 can be modified according to individual requirements.

[0078] The lighthead 4 may further comprise optical components (not shown) such as lenses and the like that may be used to manipulate the radiation pattern of the light emitted from the lighthead 4. The surface of the lighthead 4 on which the optical light distributor 4.1 is disposed may further comprise reflective material or whatever coating in order to increase the intensity of the emitted light.

[0079] Preferably, the lighthead (4), the support arms (3.3; 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3) and the joint units (3.4) are exclusively composed of or contain one or more non-magnetic materials. Further preferably, the complete illumination unit and/or the complete surgical light device is exclusively composed of or contains one or more non-magnetic materials. In particular, it is preferred that any additional components, such as screws, bolts, switches or the like, are exclusively composed of one or more non-magnetic materials. For example, the optical connector (4.2) consist only of non-magnetic materials.

REFERENCE SIGN LIST

[0080] 1 light source [0081] 1.1 power line [0082] 1.2 electrical sliding contact [0083] 2 light conductor [0084] 2.1 light coupler [0085] 3.1 mount [0086] 3.1.1 mounting section [0087] 3.1.2 support section [0088] 3.3; 3.3.1, 3.3.2, 3.3.3 support arm [0089] 3.4 joint unit [0090] 4 lighthead [0091] 4.1 optical light distributor [0092] 4.2 optical connector