Surgical access assembly and method of using same

Abstract

A surgical access assembly and method of use is disclosed. The surgical access assembly comprises an outer sheath and an obturator. The outer sheath and obturator are configured to be delivered to an area of interest within the brain. Either the outer sheath or the obturator may be configured to operate with a navigational system to track the location of either within the brain. Once positioned at a desired location, the obturator is removed, leaving a distal end of the outer sheath adjacent an area of interest, and creating a working corridor. Interrogation of the area of interest may be performed to evaluate a disorder and/or abnormality, as well as evaluate treatment regimes. Interventional devices may also be introduced to the area of interest, as well as a variety of treatments.

1 . A method of using a surgical access assembly, comprising:
 identifying an area of interest within a body;   assembling an outer sheath over an obturator in an insertion configuration defining an assembly distal end;   advancing the assembled outer sheath and obturator to the area of interest until the assembly distal end is positioned at or adjacent the area of interest;   decanting the outer sheath such that a distal end of the outer sheath is moved distally with respect to the obturator;   removing the obturator from the outer sheath and leaving the outer sheath in place to provide access to the area of interest; and   interrogating the area of interest to acquire information about the area of interest.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interrogation step includes inserting a surgical device into the outer sheath and resecting tissue using the surgical device. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the interrogation step utilizes an image based tissue interpretation technology. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein the image based tissue interpretation technology is selected from MRI, CT, PET, ultrasound, fluorescence, and spectroscopy. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising applying treatment to the area of interest based on information acquired from interrogating the area of interest. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising removing the outer sheath prior to applying treatment to the area of interest and delivering a treatment directly to the area of interest. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , further comprising implanting a delivery device at area of interest, whereby the delivery device is configured to pass a therapeutic agent from a reservoir within the delivery device. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of identifying an area of interest within a body includes identifying an area of interest that has been previously accessed and to which treatment has been previously delivered after a predetermined time period has expired. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the area of interest further comprises imaging the body to determine the location of eloquent structures to identify a trajectory for accessing the area of interest using the surgical access assembly. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , whereby interrogating the area of interest further comprises acquiring tissue from the area of interest. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , whereby the information acquired from interrogation of the area of interest is used to develop a therapy for delivery to the area of interest. 
     
     
         12 . A method of using a surgical access assembly, comprising:
 identifying an area of interest within a body;   
       assembling an outer sheath over an obturator in an insertion configuration defining an assembly distal end, wherein one of the outer sheath and obturator includes an intraoperative navigational element;
 advancing the assembled outer sheath and obturator to the area of interest until the assembly distal end is positioned at or adjacent the area of interest while using the intraoperative navigational element; 
 removing the obturator from the outer sheath and leaving the outer sheath in place to provide access to the area of interest; and 
 interrogating the area of interest to acquire information about the area of interest. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising decanting the outer sheath such that a distal end of the outer sheath is moved distally with respect to the obturator after the assembled outer sheath and obturator are positioned at or adjacent the area of interest.