Vein harvesting system and method

Abstract

A system and a method for harvesting a section of a blood vessel from a patient's body for further use. The system includes an expandable hood that creates a workspace for the dissection and removal of the vessel and a telescoping device that has tools at its distal end. The blood vessel is cut at a distal location and a light catheter inserted to illuminate the area of dissection. The system can remove a section of the saphenous vein for use in coronary bypass surgery.

1 . A tissue illumination system for use in harvesting a section of a vessel from a human or animal body comprising: 
 a catheter having proximal and distal ends, the catheter including a light transmitting sheath extending between the proximal and distal ends, and a fiber optic cable within the light transmitting sheath; and    a light source connected to a proximal end of the fiber optic cable such that light is distributed along the length of the light transmitting sheath. The light source, light transmitting sheath and fiber optic cable being configured to illuminate substantially the entire vessel section and vessel side branches with an intensity which is visible from an exterior of the vessel section.    
   
   
       2 . The tissue illumination system of  claim 1  wherein the light transmitting sheath is transparent.  
   
   
       3 . The tissue illumination system of  claim 1  wherein the light source includes a light transmissive fluid.  
   
   
       4 . The tissue illumination system of  claim 1  wherein the light source includes a chemical substance.  
   
   
       5 . The tissue illumination system of  claim 1  wherein includes a lumen and wherein the lumen is connected to a source of saline.  
   
   
       6 . The tissue illumination system of  claim 1  wherein includes a lumen and wherein the lumen is connected to a source of heparin.