| Field | USPTO record |
|---|---|
| Patent number | US 5,928,158 |
| Title | Medical instrument with nerve sensor |
| Named inventor | Arístides Arellano |
| Assignee | Very Inventive Physicians Inc |
| Filing date | 25 March 1997 |
| Grant date | 27 July 1999 |
| Public record | patents.google.com · US5928158A |
What surgical problem does the invention address?
Accidental nerve injury during tissue dissection. It is one of the risks a surgeon cannot eliminate through care alone, because nerve pathways vary from person to person: there is no single map that fits everyone. While separating tissue planes, the blade can sit millimetres from a nerve with nothing to indicate it.
And severing one is neither minor nor always reversible: loss of sensation, or loss of muscle control, across the whole area that nerve supplies. The patent starts from that observation — the surgeon works without a real-time signal saying «there is a nerve here».
How does the instrument detect a nerve?
The mechanism described in the patent rests on a physical difference between tissues. A patch electrode is placed at a remote point on the body and a predefined electrical signal is applied. That signal is conducted through nerve tissue almost intact, whereas passing through ordinary tissue degrades it markedly.
Beside the instrument's cutting element sits a contact that measures how degraded the arriving signal is. A barely degraded reading indicates nerve tissue close to the blade. The instrument does not «see» the nerve: it measures the quality with which the body returns a known signal, and infers what lies ahead.
What does the instrument do when it detects a nerve?
It triggers a visual and audible alarm to warn the surgeon. In the scissors variant, the patent also describes a locking mechanism that physically prevents the blades from completing their closure while detection is active.
That is the conceptually interesting part, and what separates it from a conventional monitor: it does not leave the entire decision to human reaction time. In that version the instrument refuses to cut.
What exactly does the record say?
The patent abstract, in its original wording:
«An improved surgical instrument which is used for cutting of tissue. The instrument includes a sensor which identifies nerves within the patient which are proximate to the cutting member of the instrument.»
Who is the inventor and who is the owner?
These are two distinct roles and they should not be conflated. The named inventor on the USPTO record is Arístides Arellano: authorship of the invention is his. The assignee — the holder of the rights — named on the document is the company Very Inventive Physicians Inc.
This page asserts nothing beyond that, because the record says nothing beyond that. Nor is there any indication that the instrument was manufactured or commercialised: a granted patent establishes that an office examined the invention and found it novel, not that the product ever reached an operating room.
Where can I verify it myself?
On Google Patents, number US5928158A, or in the public USPTO records. Title, inventor, assignee, both dates and the full claims are all there. The same standard governs the rest of this site: we do not ask you to believe us, we ask you to check.
Frequently asked questions about US patent 5,928,158
What is US patent 5,928,158?
It is a United States patent titled «Medical instrument with nerve sensor», granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on 27 July 1999 on an application filed 25 March 1997. It covers a surgical cutting instrument carrying a sensor able to identify nerves close to the blade. The full record is public and anyone can read it on Google Patents.
Who is the inventor of the patent?
The inventor named on the USPTO record is Arístides Arellano. The assignee of the patent is the company Very Inventive Physicians Inc. Being the named inventor means authorship of the invention is his; ownership of the rights sits with the assignee company. Both facts appear on the patent document itself and are publicly verifiable.
What surgical problem does the invention address?
Accidental nerve injury during tissue dissection. Nerve pathways vary from person to person, so a surgeon has no direct way of knowing in real time whether a nerve lies just behind the tissue about to be cut. The consequences of severing one can be permanent: loss of sensation, or loss of muscle control, in the area that nerve supplies.
How does the instrument detect a nerve?
According to the patent description, a predefined electrical signal is applied at a remote point on the body through a patch electrode. That signal travels through nerve tissue almost intact, while it degrades markedly when it passes through ordinary tissue. A contact placed beside the cutting element measures that degradation: a signal arriving barely degraded indicates nerve tissue nearby.
What does the instrument do when it detects a nerve?
It triggers a visual and audible alarm to warn the surgeon. In the scissors variant, the patent additionally describes a locking mechanism that physically prevents the blades from closing while a nerve is detected. In that version the instrument does not merely warn — it refuses to cut.
Where can I verify the patent myself?
On Google Patents under number US5928158A, or directly in the public USPTO records. The document states the title, the inventor, the assignee, the filing date, the grant date and the full claims. You do not have to take anyone at their word.
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Book a consultation on WhatsAppInformational content about a public industrial-property record. The data on this page comes from the US 5,928,158 patent document (USPTO). This page does not describe a medical procedure or a treatment available at the clinic, and does not replace a medical consultation.