A METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING INSUFFLATION OF A VESSEL DURING A SURGICAL OR INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURE AND A SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INSUFFLATING A VESSEL
A system for insufflating a vessel in a human or animal body, such as the rectum (2) comprises a compressed air vessel (12) from which air inflating medium is passed through a pressure regulator (13), a flow control valve (16) and an inflating conduit (14) which extends into the rectum (2) through a bore (9) in an endoscope (8). A first pressure sensor (15) located in a leading end (17) of the endoscope (8) monitors the air pressure directly in the rectum (2). A second pressure sensor (23) on a carrier element (25) extends through the bore (9) of the endoscope (8) into the colon (4) for monitoring pressure in the colon (4). A third pressure sensor (30) adjacent a point (37) of a needle (32) introduced into the abdominal cavity (3), through which air which may leak into the abdominal cavity (3) is exhausted, monitors pressure in the abdominal cavity (3). A microcontroller (18) reads signals from the first, second and third pressure sensors (15,23,30) and controls the flow control valve (16) for maintaining the pressure in the rectum (2) at a first predefined pressure, and for preventing pressure in the colon (4) exceeding a second predefined pressure. The microcontroller (18) controls the vacuum pump (36) and may also control the flow control valve (16) in order to avoid the pressure in the abdominal cavity (3) exceeding a third predefined pressure, which would result in the collapse of the rectum (2).
