Electrical adapter for medical diagnostic instruments using LEDs as illumination sources

Abstract

An adapter for permitting a medical diagnostic instrument having an illumination source including at least one LED (light emitting diode) to be used with a power supply normally configured for use with a diagnostic instrument having at least one incandescent lamp as an illumination source. The adapter includes circuitry for compensating LED specific characteristics for permitting the power supply to be used with the LED.

We claim: 
     
       1. An adapter for use with a medical diagnostic instrument originally configured with an incandescent lamp as an illumination source and a power supply specifically designed for powering said incandescent lamp, and wherein:
 said adapter having means is configured for permitting at least one LED to be used as the illumination source for said instrument and permitting said power supply to be used without alteration to enable energization of proper supply of electrical power to said at least one LED, and 
 meanssaid adapter employing adapter electronics for matching a polarity of said supply of electrical power between said power supply and said at least one LED and said power supply. 
 
     
     
       2. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said at least one LED is a white LED. 
     
     
       3. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including means for limiting current supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       4. An adapter as recited in  claim 3 , including means for boosting the voltage supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       5. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including means for compensating current drawn by said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       6. An adapter as recited in  claim 5 , including means for boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       7. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , wherein said adapter includes said at least one LED. 
     
     
       8. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including at least one optical element disposed in relation to said at least one LED used as the illumination source. 
     
     
       9. An adapter as recited in  claim 8 , including at least one optical filter disposed in relation to said at least one optical element. 
     
     
       10. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including means for compensating the color sense of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       11. An adapter as recited in  claim 10 , wherein said color sense compensating means includes means for boosting voltage supplied to at least one LED. 
     
     
       12. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including means for compensating voltage supplied to said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       13. An adapter as recited in  claim 12 , wherein said voltage compensating means includes means for boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       14. An adapter as recited in  claim 1 , including means for compensating the light output of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       15. An adapter as recited in  claim 14 , wherein said light output compensating means includes means for boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       16. An adapter as recited in  claim 14 , including means for dimming said at least one LED. 
     
     
       17. An adapter as recited in  claim 10 , including at least one optical filter. 
     
     
       18. A method for adapting a existing medical diagnostic instrument so as to incorporate at least one white LED as an illumination source, said existing instrument including a power supply for energizing a miniature incandescent bulb as an illumination source, said instrument including an existing instrument head and a existing instrument handle wherein said existing instrument head and said existing instrument handle include mating interconnecting ends which interlock said instrument head and said handle in a mechanical interconnection while simultaneously maintaining an electrical interface between said incandescent lamp and said power supply, said method including the steps of:
 attaching an adapter between said instrument head and said instrument handle, said adapter including means for electrically interconnecting at least one LED and said power supply as well as means for mechanically interconnecting said instrument head and said instrument handle; and   mounting said at least one LED in one of said adapter and said instrument head.   
     
     
       19. A method as recited in  claim 18 , including the step of attaching a new instrument head having said at least one LED to said adapter. 
     
     
       20. A method as recited in  claim 18 , including the steps of removing said incandescent bulb from said instrument head and mounting said existing instrument head onto said adapter, wherein said at least one LED is disposed in said adapter. 
     
     
       21. A diagnostic instrument comprising:
 a power supply; 
 an incandescent light source disposed in said instrument that is powered by said power supply; and 
 an adapter including at least one LED light source, said adapter having circuitry to permit said at least one LED light source to operate with said power supply when said adapter is attached to said instrument, said adapter being interchangeable with said incandescent light source to permit alternative operation of each said light source. 
 
     
     
       22. A method of using a diagnostic instrument, said method comprising the steps of:
 providing an instrument with a releasably removable incandescent light source powered by a power supply; 
 removing the incandescent light source from the instrument; and 
 attaching an interchangeable adapter having an LED light source and circuitry that operates with said power supply when said adapter is attached to said instrument to permit alternative operation of said instrument of each said light source. 
 
     
     
       23. In combination, an adapter for use with a medical diagnostic instrument, said instrument including a power supply that is electrically configured for solely powering an instrument having an incandescent lamp as an illumination source, said medical diagnostic instrument including an instrument head, a hand-grippable handle and at least one LED disposed in said instrument as the illumination source thereof, said adapter including means for electrically and mechanically interconnecting said power supply, and said at least one LED to enable said at least one LED to be used as said illumination source of said instrument and for effectively energizing said at least one LED, said adapter being independently attached between said instrument head and said hand-grippable handle and wherein said instrument head and said hand-grippable handle further include interconnect means for interconnecting said instrument head to said handle for providing a mechanical interface and maintaining an electrical interface between said power supply and an incandescent lamp when an incandescent lamp is typically used in the instrument, and in which said adapter includes respective ends adapted to connect to said interconnect means to provide said mechanical interface while creating an electrical interface between said power supply and said at least one LED. 
     
     
       24. A combination as recited in  claim 23 , wherein said adapter is independently attached between said instrument head and said band-grippable handle. 
     
     
       25. A combination as recited in  claim 23 , wherein said at least one LED is part of an LED module. 
     
     
       26. A combination as recited in  claim 25 , wherein said adapter is disposed in said LED module. 
     
     
       27. A combination as recited in  claim 25 , wherein said module includes at least one optical element disposed in relation to the output of said LED. 
     
     
       28. A combination as recited in  claim 23 , wherein said at least one LED is disposed in at least a portion of the instrument head. 
     
     
       29. A combination as recited in  claim 23 , wherein said at least one LED is disposed in at least a portion of the adapter. 
     
     
       30. In combination, an adapter for use with a medical diagnostic instrument, including a power supply that is electrically configured for solely powering an instrument having an incandescent lamp as an illumination source, said medical diagnostic instrument including an instrument as the illumination source thereof, said adapter including means for electrically and mechanically interconnecting said power supply and said at least one LED to enable said at least one LED to be used as said illumination source of said instrument and for effectively energizing said at least one LED, wherein said adapter permits said at least one LED to be energized by said power supply without modification thereof wherein said instrument includes at least one of at least one LED and an incandescent lamp as the illumination source, said combination further including means for selectively activating said adapter depending on the illumination source provided in said instrument, including means for sensing the type of illumination source in said instrument. 
     
     
       31. A combination as recited in  claim 23 , wherein said adapter permits said at least one LED to be energized by said power supply without modification thereof. 
     
     
       32. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said adapter is disposed in at least a portion of said instrument head. 
     
     
       33. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said adapter is disposed in at least a portion of the hand-grippable handle. 
     
     
       34. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , including mode switching means connected to said adapter for enabling said adapter if at least one LED is used as the instrument illumination source. 
     
     
       35. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said illumination source sensing means includes means for sensing whether there is a polarity difference between said power supply and the illumination source and means for automatically enabling said adapter if there is a sensed polarity difference. 
     
     
       36. A combination as recited in  claim 33 , wherein said handle is modified to permit use of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       37. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said adapter is disposed in at least a portion of the power supply of said instrument. 
     
     
       38. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said at least one LED is a white LED. 
     
     
       39. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said at least one LED is disposed in at least a portion of an LED module. 
     
     
       40. A combination as recited in  claim 39 , wherein said LED module is disposed in at least a portion of said instrument head. 
     
     
       41. A combination as recited in  claim 39 , wherein said LED module is disposed in at least a portion of said adapter. 
     
     
       42. A combination as recited in  claim 30 , wherein said at least one LED is disposed in at least a portion of the instrument head. 
     
     
       43. A method for adapting a medical diagnostic instrument for use with at least one LED as an illumination source, said instrument including a power supply typically only electrically configured for energizing an incandescent lamp as an illumination source, said method comprising the steps of:
 adding an adapter to at least one of an instrument head, an instrument handle and said instrument power supply and electrically connecting said adapter to said power supply and said at least one LED to energize same without modification to said power supply; and 
 matching the polarity between said at least one LED and said power supply. 
 
     
     
       44. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of independently attaching an adapter between said instrument head and said handle. 
     
     
       45. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of disposing said at least one LED into at least a portion of said adapter. 
     
     
       46. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of limiting current supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       47. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of adjusting voltage supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       48. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of compensating current drawn by said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       49. A method as recited in  claim 47 , including the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED by said power supply. 
     
     
       50. A method as recited in  claim 44 , wherein said at least one LED is part of an LED module and in which said method includes the step of disposing said adapter in at least a portion of said LED module. 
     
     
       51. A method as recited in  claim 44 , including the step of providing a mechanical interface between said instrument head and said instrument handle that maintains an electrical interface between said power supply and said at least one LED, said at least one LED being located in one of the instrument head and the adapter. 
     
     
       52. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of compensating the color sense of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       53. A method as recited in  claim 52 , wherein said color sense compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       54. A method as recited in  claim 52 , including the step of optically filtering said at least one LED. 
     
     
       55. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of compensating voltage supplied to said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       56. A method as recited in  claim 55 , wherein said voltage compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       57. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of compensating the light output of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       58. A method as recited in  claim 57 , wherein said light output compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       59. A method as recited in  claim 57 , including the step of dimming said at least one LED. 
     
     
       60. A method as recited in  claim 43 , including the step of coupling at least one optical element in relation to the output of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       61. A method as recited in  claim 60 , including the step of placing at least one optical filter in relation to said at least one optical element. 
     
     
       62. A method for adapting a medical diagnostic instrument for use with at least one LED as an illumination source, said instrument including a power supply typically only electrically configured for energizing an incandescent lamp as an illumination source, said method comprising the steps of:
 adding an adapter to at least one of an instrument head, and instrument handle and said instrument power supply and electrically connecting said adapter to said power supply and said at least one LED to energize same without modification to said power supply, wherein said instrument includes at least one of at least one LED and an incandescent lamp as the illumination source for said instrument, said method further including the additional steps of selectively activating said adapter depending on the illumination source provided in said instrument and of sensing the illumination source in said instrument. 
 
     
     
       63. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of limiting current to said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       64. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of compensating current drawn by said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       65. A method as recited in  claim 63 , including the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED from the power supply. 
     
     
       66. A method as recited in  claim 64 , including the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED from the power supply. 
     
     
       67. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of independently attaching an adapter between said instrument head and said handle. 
     
     
       68. A method as recited in claim  67  62, wherein said at least one LED is part of an LED module and in which said method includes the step of disposing said adapter in at least a portion of said LED module. 
     
     
       69. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of disposing said at least one LED into at least a portion of said adapter. 
     
     
       70. A method as recited in  claim 69 , wherein said illumination sensing step includes the additional steps of determining if there is a polarity difference between said power supply and the illumination source and automatically enabling raid adapter if there is a sensed polarity difference. 
     
     
       71. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of compensating the light output of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       72. A method as recited in  claim 71 , wherein said light output compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       73. A method as recited in  claim 71 , including the step of dimming said at least one LED. 
     
     
       74. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of compensating the color sense of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       75. A method as recited in  claim 74 , wherein said color compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       76. A method as recited in cliam  75 , including the step of optically filtering said at least one LED. 
     
     
       77. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of compensating voltage supplied to said at least one LED from said power supply. 
     
     
       78. A method as recited in claim  77  62, wherein said voltage compensating step includes the step of boosting voltage supplied to said at least one LED. 
     
     
       79. A method as recited in  claim 62 , including the step of coupling at least one optical element in relation to the output of said at least one LED. 
     
     
       80. A method as recited in  claim 79 , including the step of placing at least one optical filter in relation to said at least one optical element. 
     
     
       81. The adapter of claim 1, wherein said adapter electronics are employed for turning on a first half H-bridge and turning on a second half H-bridge sequentially, and measuring and comparing a first resulting voltage and a second resulting voltage respectively, and determining whether a non-polarized illumination source is used if the resulting voltages are equal or whether a polarized illumination source is used if the resulting voltages are different, and determining whether there is a direction of polarity based upon the comparing of the resulting voltages in order to supply electrical power with proper polarity to said at least one light emitting diode. 
     
     
       82. An adaptor that is configured for providing electrical power to a light-emitting diode that is incorporated into a hand held device that was originally designed to project light via an incandescent illumination source, said adapter comprising:
 at least one output electrical contact through which output electrical power is transferred to at least one light-emitting diode;   at least one input electrical contact through which input electrical power is received from an electrical power supply that is designed to supply power to an incandescent light source; and   means for matching a polarity between said at least one light emitting diode and said power supply and wherein   said adaptor is configured to transfer electrical power to said light emitting diode while said adaptor and said light-emitting diode are incorporated within a hand-held device,   said device having a body that is comprised of at least a first portion and a second portion that are mechanically attachable and detachable with respect to each other via a connection location of said device; and wherein   said adaptor is configured to be incorporated into said device via insertion of said adaptor through said connection location of said device,   for enabling said device to use light from said light emitting diode.   
     
     
       83. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said device has a first portion that is an instrument head and a second portion that is an instrument handle. 
     
     
       84. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is packaged within a one piece enclosure that includes or attaches to said light emitting diode. 
     
     
       85. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is packaged to include a battery that functions as said electrical power source. 
     
     
       86. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is current limiting. 
     
     
       87. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is configured to convert electrical voltage of said input electrical power to energize said light-emitting diode. 
     
     
       88. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is configured to convert said input electrical power to a proper polarity. 
     
     
       89. The adaptor of claim 88, wherein said adaptor includes a diode bridge and a AC to DC converter configured for converting said input electrical power to current limited direct current at said proper polarity. 
     
     
       90. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is configured to be selectively operated to supply electrical power to either said light emitting diode or an incandescent light source, in accordance with respective requirements of either said light emitting diode or said incandescent light source. 
     
     
       91. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said device is a medical diagnostic instrument. 
     
     
       92. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor and said light-emitting diode are configured to be physically substituted for a non-light emitting diode light source. 
     
     
       93. The adaptor of claim 82, wherein said adaptor is configured to be incorporated into said device through one of a first interconnecting end and a second interconnecting end while said first interconnecting end and said second interconnecting end are detached from each other and wherein re-attachment of said interconnecting ends maintains electrical contact between said adapter and said light-emitting diode and between said adapter and said device. 
     
     
       94. The adaptor of claim 83, wherein the adaptor is incorporated into the instrument head. 
     
     
       95. An adaptor that is configured for providing electrical power to a light emitting diode, comprising:
 at least one output electrical contact through which output electrical power is transferred to at least one light-emitting diode;   at least one input electrical contact through which input electrical power is received from an input electrical power source that is designed to supply power to an non light-emitting diode light source; and   means for matching a polarity between said at least one light emitting diode and said power supply, wherein   said adaptor being configured to transfer power from said input electrical power source to said light emitting diode while said adaptor and said at least one light-emitting diode are incorporated into a hand held medical diagnostic device, enabling said device to project light from said at least one light emitting diode; and wherein   said device being configured to provide an opening through which to access said non light-emitting diode light source; and wherein   said adaptor is configured to be incorporated into said device via insertion of said adaptor through said opening of said device.   
     
     
       96. The adaptor of claim 95, where said transfer of power includes transformation of one or more characteristics of said input electrical power to characteristics of said output electrical power. 
     
     
       97. The adapter of claim 96, wherein said transformation includes transformation of at least one of a current, voltage and polarity characteristic of said power. 
     
     
       98. The adapter of claim 95, wherein said adaptor is configured to be incorporated into said device through one of a first interconnecting end and a second interconnecting end while said first interconnecting end and said second interconnecting end are detached from each other and wherein re-attachment of said interconnecting ends maintains electrical contact between said adapter and said at least one light-emitting diode and between said adapter and said device. 
     
     
       99. The adapter of claim 95, wherein said non light-emitting diode light source is an incandescent light source. 
     
     
       100. An adapter for use with a medical diagnostic instrument originally configured with an incandescent lamp as an illumination source and a power supply specifically designed for powering said incandescent lamp,
 said adapter having means for permitting at least one LED to be used as the illumination source for said instrument and permitting said power supply to be used without alteration to enable energization of said at least one LED, and   means for matching a polarity between said at least one LED and said power supply.