CA1206250A - Ultrasonic endoscope having elongated array mounted in manner allowing it to remain flexible - Google Patents
Ultrasonic endoscope having elongated array mounted in manner allowing it to remain flexibleInfo
- Publication number
- CA1206250A CA1206250A CA000427460A CA427460A CA1206250A CA 1206250 A CA1206250 A CA 1206250A CA 000427460 A CA000427460 A CA 000427460A CA 427460 A CA427460 A CA 427460A CA 1206250 A CA1206250 A CA 1206250A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- tube
- transducer
- elongated
- endoscope
- control
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B1/00—Instruments for performing medical examinations of the interior of cavities or tubes of the body by visual or photographical inspection, e.g. endoscopes; Illuminating arrangements therefor
- A61B1/005—Flexible endoscopes
- A61B1/0051—Flexible endoscopes with controlled bending of insertion part
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/12—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves in body cavities or body tracts, e.g. by using catheters
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A61—MEDICAL OR VETERINARY SCIENCE; HYGIENE
- A61B—DIAGNOSIS; SURGERY; IDENTIFICATION
- A61B8/00—Diagnosis using ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic waves
- A61B8/44—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device
- A61B8/4444—Constructional features of the ultrasonic, sonic or infrasonic diagnostic device related to the probe
- A61B8/445—Details of catheter construction
Abstract
ABSTRACT ULTRASONIC ENDOSCOPE HAVING ELONGATED ARRAY MOUNTED IN MANNER ALLOWING IT TO REMAIN FLEXIBLE The invention is a fiber-optic endoscope which has an elongated ultrasonic array, such as a linear array or a phased array. The array is mounted on either the distal portion of the bending section (not under operator control) portion of the endoscopic tube or on the proximal portion of bendable portion of the tube. Thus, the present invention includes both a fiber-optic endoscope and an ultrasonic transducer. Yet, the presence of the ultrasonic transducer does not interfere with the operation of the placement of the fiber-optic probe.
Description
ULTRASONIC ~NDOSCOPE AVING ELONGATED ARRAY MOUNTED
IN MANNER_ALLGWING IT TO REMAIN FLEXIBLE
The present invention relates to endoscopes of the type which include an elongated ultrasonic transducer, such as a linear transducer or a phased acray transducee.
Endoscopes are devices which are used for the visual inspection of internal organs of living bodies. They typically include a tube, which may be flexible oc rigid, which extends between a control housing at its proximal end and a tip or probe at its distal end. A bendable tube portion is included adjacent to the probe. The bendable portion is bent under operator con~rol through the use of a control mechanism mounted on the conteol housing. Optical illuminating and viewing means, which include an objective lens in the probe and an eyepiece in the control housing, are provided.
The optical ~eans aee used to view the intecior surfaces of the body cavities through which the endoscope passes.
While an endoscope peovides an opeeator with informa~ion concerning in~erior surface conditions, the need for ultrasonic ima~ing of underlying surfaces and interior ocgans has been recognized, and heretofGre, endoscopic probes containing ultrasonic transducers were known.
~0 W~23 One such pcobe was described in U. S. Patent No.
3,938,502 entitled APPARATUS WITH A C~THETER FOR
EXAMINING HOLLOW ORGANS OR BODIES WITII THE
ULTRASONIC W~VES which issued on February 17, 1976. That probe, however, lac~ed optical viewing means. Optical viewing means are needed to permit an operator to position the ultrasonic probe at a desired location within a patient's body. ~ithout knowledge of transducer location and orientation, any ultrasonic image obtained is of minimal diagnos~ic use. Additionally, optical viewing means are generall~ required to safely guide a probe as it is inserted into a patient's body, in order to avoid harming the patient.
Encloscopes h~ve heretofore been provided with linear ultrasonic tr,ansducer arrays at their distal ends. While such endoscopes are able to provide simultaneous visual and ultrasonic imagin~ of internal body parts, a problem which has been encountered when such an endoscope is inserted into a body cavity is that the elongated, inflexible section housing the transducer interferes with the operator's ability to move the bendable, distal portion of the endoscope~
The present invention is intended to provide an impro~ed fiber-optic endoscope which is insectable into a body ca~ity, and which includes an elongated rectilinear or phased array ultrasonic transducer ~or imaging internal body parts. It is intended that the ultrasonic array ~e placed at the end o~ the "insertion tube" portion of the endoscope in order that it not int0rfere with the operator's positioning of 3~ the "bending section" of the endoscope.
~æo~æs~
In order to accomplish this goal, the present invention comprises an endoscope having a probe connected by an inssrtion tube to a control housing. The instrument includes an optical illuminating and viewing system, which typically includes an objective lens located in the distal end of the probe and an eyepiece in the housing. The eyepiece is used for optically viewing internal surfaces of body parts through which the endoscope passes. At least a portion of the tube adjacent to the probe is bendable under operator control. Controls in a handle at the control housing provide means, which allow an operator to contcol the bending section of the endoscope. The bending section can be directed by the operator in a desired direction to facilitate guiding the probe into a particular body part, so the probe can be located in a desired location therewithin.
Ultrasonic imaging of underlying tissue at optically-identified areas is provided by means of a pulsed ultrasonic imaging system.
An elongated transducer array is preferably lo~ated either on the proximal portion of the distal end of the bending section of the tube or on the distal portion of the insertion tube.
Coaxial cables connect individual transducer elements of the array to a pulse generator and to pulse receiver means in ~he s~andard manner.
Means are provided for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic energy.
Wi~h the present invention, high resolution ultrasonic images are obtained over a range of depths beneath the surface of the body part. A removable eyepiece at the housing is used for direct viewing by the operator while the endoscopic probe is guided into the desired position in the body cavity. Means are also provided for viewing the optical image by a video camera having an output connected to a monitor which is typically placed adjacent to the ultrasonic image display. Con~equently, both the optical and ultrasonic images are simultaneously displayable and viewable by the operator.
In the Drawing:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope and which includes the ultrasonic imaging system of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of an alternati~e embodiment of the present ZO invention on an endoscope which includes two bendable portions with the ultrasonic imaging system of the present invention located therebetween.
Referring yenerally to FIG. 1, the endoscope 10 of ~he present invention is shown.
The endoscope 10 comprises a fiber-optic probe 12 connected to a housing 14 by an elongated tube 16. A portion la of the tube 16 adjacent to the probe 12 is bendable. The term "bendable" is used herein to indicate that the portion 18 can be bent undar the control of an operator, as will be more fully explained hereinafter. Thus, the non-bendable insertion portion 17 of the tube 16 is generally flexible, but it is not bendable under the control of an operator.
An ultrasonic transducer 20, such as the linear ultrasonic array having an ultrasonic field of view 21, is mounted at the proximal end of the fiber-optic probe 12. Al~ernatively, the array 20 could be mounted at the distal end of the non-bendable portion 17 of the tube 16.
The present endoscope 10 further comprises a contLol unit 22 which is located in the housing 14 at the proximal end o~ the tube 16. The control unit 22 includes means 24 for controlling the bending section 18 o~ the probe 12. Such means 24 typically allow the operator to control the "up-down" and "left-right~
movement of the bending section 18 of the probe 1~. A set 26 of conventional, flexible bundles which include conductors of light ,and ultrasound energy 28, 30, extend away from the control unit 22, to connect to appropriate light peoducing and image displaying apparatus and to ultrasound p~oducing and displaying apparatus (not shown) in a manner generally used, and well known, in the art.
The endoscope 10 of the present invention is substantially conventional in design. However, it is distinguished from prior endGscopes in ~hat it includes a linear ultrasonic transducer 20 which is displaced away from the distal end of the bending section 18 of the tube 16, rather than at distal end of the probe 12. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the portion of the transducer 20 is selected, in accordance with the present invention, to be in a location where it will not interfere with the control of the probe 12 by the operator.
While the prefecred embodiment of the invention makes use of a linear array transducer 20, those o~ ordinacy skill in the art will recognize that a phased array a~ray transducer could be substituted for the p~esent linear aLray transduce~ without departing ~om the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Acco~dingly, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 2, a phased array transducer 42, having an ultrasonic field of view 44, is located between a pair of bendable tubes 46,-48. It is therefore, contemplated tha-t the present invention can be used either with a linear array or a phased array, and that in either event, it i~ displaced away from the distal end of th~ ptobe.
An important feature which distinguishes the present invention from the prior art represented for example by Japarlese Patent No. 55-1~8309, is that the elongated transducer is not mounted between the bending section lB and the clistal end of the probe 12, but rather between the insertion tube portion of the tube 16 and the bending section 18. Another distinguishing feature of the present invention is that the transducer array 20 is either a linear array or a phased array, i.e. it is an array which is elongated ~in the direction of the a~is of the tube 16). Thus, rather than providing a tomographic ultrasonic scan of a siiica through a patient, the present invention may be employed to provide an elongated image of a particular, selected organ.
A particular advantage of the present invention over the fiber-optic endoscopes of the prior art is that after the endoscope of the pre~ent invention is positioned in the stomach of a patient, the operator can bend the distal end of the probe 12 back on itself in order to visually observe the specific orientation of the array 20. Thus, the operator has actual, visual confirmation of the positon of the array and he therefore knows the specific orientation o the array 20, so that he can properly correlate ~he ultrasonic ;mage of with the visual positioning cf the probe.
While the inventive features of the present invention have been described~ other standard features of fiber-optic endoscopes which include a water valve 32, a forceps inlet 34, and air switch 36, a suction switch 38, and an eyepiece section 40, all of which are located on the housing 14, are considsred well known.
Accordingly, they will not be more fully described herein. Similarly, the means for connecting the optical fibers and electronic controls~ and the particular electronics and optics used to produce and interpret ultrasound and light transmissions and reception in the present invention, are considered to be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art, and they are not fully described herein, although their use is contemplated with the present invention.
IN MANNER_ALLGWING IT TO REMAIN FLEXIBLE
The present invention relates to endoscopes of the type which include an elongated ultrasonic transducer, such as a linear transducer or a phased acray transducee.
Endoscopes are devices which are used for the visual inspection of internal organs of living bodies. They typically include a tube, which may be flexible oc rigid, which extends between a control housing at its proximal end and a tip or probe at its distal end. A bendable tube portion is included adjacent to the probe. The bendable portion is bent under operator con~rol through the use of a control mechanism mounted on the conteol housing. Optical illuminating and viewing means, which include an objective lens in the probe and an eyepiece in the control housing, are provided.
The optical ~eans aee used to view the intecior surfaces of the body cavities through which the endoscope passes.
While an endoscope peovides an opeeator with informa~ion concerning in~erior surface conditions, the need for ultrasonic ima~ing of underlying surfaces and interior ocgans has been recognized, and heretofGre, endoscopic probes containing ultrasonic transducers were known.
~0 W~23 One such pcobe was described in U. S. Patent No.
3,938,502 entitled APPARATUS WITH A C~THETER FOR
EXAMINING HOLLOW ORGANS OR BODIES WITII THE
ULTRASONIC W~VES which issued on February 17, 1976. That probe, however, lac~ed optical viewing means. Optical viewing means are needed to permit an operator to position the ultrasonic probe at a desired location within a patient's body. ~ithout knowledge of transducer location and orientation, any ultrasonic image obtained is of minimal diagnos~ic use. Additionally, optical viewing means are generall~ required to safely guide a probe as it is inserted into a patient's body, in order to avoid harming the patient.
Encloscopes h~ve heretofore been provided with linear ultrasonic tr,ansducer arrays at their distal ends. While such endoscopes are able to provide simultaneous visual and ultrasonic imagin~ of internal body parts, a problem which has been encountered when such an endoscope is inserted into a body cavity is that the elongated, inflexible section housing the transducer interferes with the operator's ability to move the bendable, distal portion of the endoscope~
The present invention is intended to provide an impro~ed fiber-optic endoscope which is insectable into a body ca~ity, and which includes an elongated rectilinear or phased array ultrasonic transducer ~or imaging internal body parts. It is intended that the ultrasonic array ~e placed at the end o~ the "insertion tube" portion of the endoscope in order that it not int0rfere with the operator's positioning of 3~ the "bending section" of the endoscope.
~æo~æs~
In order to accomplish this goal, the present invention comprises an endoscope having a probe connected by an inssrtion tube to a control housing. The instrument includes an optical illuminating and viewing system, which typically includes an objective lens located in the distal end of the probe and an eyepiece in the housing. The eyepiece is used for optically viewing internal surfaces of body parts through which the endoscope passes. At least a portion of the tube adjacent to the probe is bendable under operator control. Controls in a handle at the control housing provide means, which allow an operator to contcol the bending section of the endoscope. The bending section can be directed by the operator in a desired direction to facilitate guiding the probe into a particular body part, so the probe can be located in a desired location therewithin.
Ultrasonic imaging of underlying tissue at optically-identified areas is provided by means of a pulsed ultrasonic imaging system.
An elongated transducer array is preferably lo~ated either on the proximal portion of the distal end of the bending section of the tube or on the distal portion of the insertion tube.
Coaxial cables connect individual transducer elements of the array to a pulse generator and to pulse receiver means in ~he s~andard manner.
Means are provided for transmitting and receiving ultrasonic energy.
Wi~h the present invention, high resolution ultrasonic images are obtained over a range of depths beneath the surface of the body part. A removable eyepiece at the housing is used for direct viewing by the operator while the endoscopic probe is guided into the desired position in the body cavity. Means are also provided for viewing the optical image by a video camera having an output connected to a monitor which is typically placed adjacent to the ultrasonic image display. Con~equently, both the optical and ultrasonic images are simultaneously displayable and viewable by the operator.
In the Drawing:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an endoscope and which includes the ultrasonic imaging system of the present invention; and FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view of an alternati~e embodiment of the present ZO invention on an endoscope which includes two bendable portions with the ultrasonic imaging system of the present invention located therebetween.
Referring yenerally to FIG. 1, the endoscope 10 of ~he present invention is shown.
The endoscope 10 comprises a fiber-optic probe 12 connected to a housing 14 by an elongated tube 16. A portion la of the tube 16 adjacent to the probe 12 is bendable. The term "bendable" is used herein to indicate that the portion 18 can be bent undar the control of an operator, as will be more fully explained hereinafter. Thus, the non-bendable insertion portion 17 of the tube 16 is generally flexible, but it is not bendable under the control of an operator.
An ultrasonic transducer 20, such as the linear ultrasonic array having an ultrasonic field of view 21, is mounted at the proximal end of the fiber-optic probe 12. Al~ernatively, the array 20 could be mounted at the distal end of the non-bendable portion 17 of the tube 16.
The present endoscope 10 further comprises a contLol unit 22 which is located in the housing 14 at the proximal end o~ the tube 16. The control unit 22 includes means 24 for controlling the bending section 18 o~ the probe 12. Such means 24 typically allow the operator to control the "up-down" and "left-right~
movement of the bending section 18 of the probe 1~. A set 26 of conventional, flexible bundles which include conductors of light ,and ultrasound energy 28, 30, extend away from the control unit 22, to connect to appropriate light peoducing and image displaying apparatus and to ultrasound p~oducing and displaying apparatus (not shown) in a manner generally used, and well known, in the art.
The endoscope 10 of the present invention is substantially conventional in design. However, it is distinguished from prior endGscopes in ~hat it includes a linear ultrasonic transducer 20 which is displaced away from the distal end of the bending section 18 of the tube 16, rather than at distal end of the probe 12. As will be understood by those skilled in the art, the portion of the transducer 20 is selected, in accordance with the present invention, to be in a location where it will not interfere with the control of the probe 12 by the operator.
While the prefecred embodiment of the invention makes use of a linear array transducer 20, those o~ ordinacy skill in the art will recognize that a phased array a~ray transducer could be substituted for the p~esent linear aLray transduce~ without departing ~om the spirit or scope of the present invention.
Acco~dingly, in an alternative embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 2, a phased array transducer 42, having an ultrasonic field of view 44, is located between a pair of bendable tubes 46,-48. It is therefore, contemplated tha-t the present invention can be used either with a linear array or a phased array, and that in either event, it i~ displaced away from the distal end of th~ ptobe.
An important feature which distinguishes the present invention from the prior art represented for example by Japarlese Patent No. 55-1~8309, is that the elongated transducer is not mounted between the bending section lB and the clistal end of the probe 12, but rather between the insertion tube portion of the tube 16 and the bending section 18. Another distinguishing feature of the present invention is that the transducer array 20 is either a linear array or a phased array, i.e. it is an array which is elongated ~in the direction of the a~is of the tube 16). Thus, rather than providing a tomographic ultrasonic scan of a siiica through a patient, the present invention may be employed to provide an elongated image of a particular, selected organ.
A particular advantage of the present invention over the fiber-optic endoscopes of the prior art is that after the endoscope of the pre~ent invention is positioned in the stomach of a patient, the operator can bend the distal end of the probe 12 back on itself in order to visually observe the specific orientation of the array 20. Thus, the operator has actual, visual confirmation of the positon of the array and he therefore knows the specific orientation o the array 20, so that he can properly correlate ~he ultrasonic ;mage of with the visual positioning cf the probe.
While the inventive features of the present invention have been described~ other standard features of fiber-optic endoscopes which include a water valve 32, a forceps inlet 34, and air switch 36, a suction switch 38, and an eyepiece section 40, all of which are located on the housing 14, are considsred well known.
Accordingly, they will not be more fully described herein. Similarly, the means for connecting the optical fibers and electronic controls~ and the particular electronics and optics used to produce and interpret ultrasound and light transmissions and reception in the present invention, are considered to be obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art, and they are not fully described herein, although their use is contemplated with the present invention.
Claims (6)
1. An improved fiber-optic endoscope of the type comprising:
(a) a tube having a bending section which can be bent under operator control, which tube includes a distal end portion which contains light trans-mitting and receiving means;
(b) a control unit with which an operator can control, through control means, the position of said distal portion;
(c) an intermediate insertion portion of said tube between said distal portion and said control unit;
and (d) an elongated ultrasonic transducer of the type which provides cross-sectional images through a portion of the body, which transducer is mounted on said tube, wherein the improvement comprises the elongated ultra-sonic transducer being mounted on the distal end of said insertion portion of said tube.
(a) a tube having a bending section which can be bent under operator control, which tube includes a distal end portion which contains light trans-mitting and receiving means;
(b) a control unit with which an operator can control, through control means, the position of said distal portion;
(c) an intermediate insertion portion of said tube between said distal portion and said control unit;
and (d) an elongated ultrasonic transducer of the type which provides cross-sectional images through a portion of the body, which transducer is mounted on said tube, wherein the improvement comprises the elongated ultra-sonic transducer being mounted on the distal end of said insertion portion of said tube.
2. The improved fiber-optic endoscope of Claim 1 wherein said elongated ultrasonic transducer has its long axis mounted along the axis of said tube.
3. The improved fiber-optic endoscope of Claim 2 wherein said elongated ultrasonic transducer is comprised of a linear array of multiple transducers, and said multiple transducers are aligned along the axis of said tube.
4. The improved fiber-optic endoscope of Claim 2 wherein said elongated ultrasonic transducer is comprised of a phased array of multiple transducers, and said multiple transducers are aligned along the axis of said tube.
5. The improved fiber-optic endoscope of Claim 1 wherein said insertion portion of said tube includes at least a second bendable portion and said elongated ultrasonic trans-ducer is mounted between said bendable portions of said -tube.
6. An improved fiber-optic endoscope of the type comprising:
(a) a tube having a bending section which can be bent under operator control, which tube includes a distal end portion which contains a light trans-mitting and receiving means, (b) a control unit with which an operator can control, through control means, the position of said distal portion;
(c) an intermediate insertion portion of said tube between said distal portion and said control unit; and (d) an elongated ultrasonic transducer of the type which provides cross-sectional images through a portion of the body, which transducer is mounted on said tube, wherein the improvement comprises the elongated ultrasonic transducer being mounted on the proxi-mal end of said bending section of said tube that said light transmitting and receiving means can be bent back, under operator control, to observe said transducer.
(a) a tube having a bending section which can be bent under operator control, which tube includes a distal end portion which contains a light trans-mitting and receiving means, (b) a control unit with which an operator can control, through control means, the position of said distal portion;
(c) an intermediate insertion portion of said tube between said distal portion and said control unit; and (d) an elongated ultrasonic transducer of the type which provides cross-sectional images through a portion of the body, which transducer is mounted on said tube, wherein the improvement comprises the elongated ultrasonic transducer being mounted on the proxi-mal end of said bending section of said tube that said light transmitting and receiving means can be bent back, under operator control, to observe said transducer.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| US379,213 | 1982-05-17 | ||
| US06/379,213 US4462408A (en) | 1982-05-17 | 1982-05-17 | Ultrasonic endoscope having elongated array mounted in manner allowing it to remain flexible |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1206250A true CA1206250A (en) | 1986-06-17 |
Family
ID=23496281
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000427460A Expired CA1206250A (en) | 1982-05-17 | 1983-05-04 | Ultrasonic endoscope having elongated array mounted in manner allowing it to remain flexible |
Country Status (6)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4462408A (en) |
| EP (1) | EP0094791B1 (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS58218952A (en) |
| AT (1) | ATE45080T1 (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1206250A (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3380293D1 (en) |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3557780A (en) * | 1967-04-20 | 1971-01-26 | Olympus Optical Co | Mechanism for controlling flexure of endoscope |
| US3938502A (en) * | 1972-02-22 | 1976-02-17 | Nicolaas Bom | Apparatus with a catheter for examining hollow organs or bodies with the ultrasonic waves |
| JPS5586435A (en) * | 1978-12-22 | 1980-06-30 | Olympus Optical Co | Endoscope |
| US4354501A (en) * | 1979-08-28 | 1982-10-19 | Univ Washington | Esophageal catheter including ultrasonic transducer for use in detection of air emboli |
| US4327738A (en) * | 1979-10-19 | 1982-05-04 | Green Philip S | Endoscopic method & apparatus including ultrasonic B-scan imaging |
| DE3039551C2 (en) * | 1979-11-08 | 1982-10-28 | Kabushiki Kaisha Medos Kenkyusho, Tokyo | Bendable endoscope tubing assembly |
| US4489727A (en) * | 1981-03-22 | 1984-12-25 | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Device for diagnosing body cavity interior with supersonic waves |
| US4489728A (en) * | 1981-03-22 | 1984-12-25 | Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. | Device for diagnosing body cavity interior with supersonic waves |
-
1982
- 1982-05-17 US US06/379,213 patent/US4462408A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
-
1983
- 1983-05-04 CA CA000427460A patent/CA1206250A/en not_active Expired
- 1983-05-11 DE DE8383302683T patent/DE3380293D1/en not_active Expired
- 1983-05-11 AT AT83302683T patent/ATE45080T1/en active
- 1983-05-11 EP EP83302683A patent/EP0094791B1/en not_active Expired
- 1983-05-12 JP JP58083957A patent/JPS58218952A/en active Pending
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPS58218952A (en) | 1983-12-20 |
| ATE45080T1 (en) | 1989-08-15 |
| EP0094791A2 (en) | 1983-11-23 |
| EP0094791B1 (en) | 1989-08-02 |
| DE3380293D1 (en) | 1989-09-07 |
| EP0094791A3 (en) | 1985-05-15 |
| US4462408A (en) | 1984-07-31 |
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| MKEX | Expiry | ||
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