Absorbable Gastric Restriction End Effector
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current gastric restriction procedures, such as Roux-en-Y gastric bypass, are highly invasive and time-consuming, leading to lengthy and painful recovery times, necessitating more efficient and patient-friendly methods for performing gastric reduction surgery.
Innovation Solution
A gastric restriction device with an end effector that includes releasable segments and fasteners to attach opposed tissue surfaces, utilizing suction ports and firing bars to engage tissue and create a small stomach pouch, reducing the need for sutures and facilitating quicker recovery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional RYGB procedure is performed, then gastric bypass is achieved, but operative time is excessive and recovery is lengthy and painful
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector is divided into multiple segments that can be independently manipulated and positioned. Each segment contains tissue engagement features that can be activated separately, allowing for staged gastric pouch creation rather than requiring a single complex suturing operation. This segmentation enables the procedure to be completed more quickly while maintaining the therapeutic effect of gastric restriction.
Solution Approach 2:
The device introduces an intermediary mechanical fastening system between the stomach tissue layers, replacing the need for traditional sutures. The end effector delivers fasteners that directly join the gastric wall segments, serving as a mediator that achieves gastric bypass functionality without requiring lengthy manual suturing procedures. This intermediary mechanism significantly reduces operative time while maintaining procedural reliability.
2Productivity
If gastric restriction is performed to create small stomach pouch, then food passage is restricted effectively, but traditional methods require substantial preoperative, operative, and postoperative resources
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector is designed as a multi-functional device that combines tissue engagement, fastener delivery, and pouch formation capabilities in a single instrument. This universal device eliminates the need for multiple separate surgical tools and procedures, reducing both operative complexity and resource requirements while maintaining effective gastric restriction. The single device performs what previously required multiple surgical steps and instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the complex mechanical suturing system with a simplified fastener-based mechanism. Instead of requiring manual needle threading, knot tying, and suture manipulation, the device uses pre-formed fasteners that are mechanically delivered and automatically engage the tissue. This substitution dramatically reduces the skill level and time required while achieving the same gastric restriction effect.
3Strength
If traditional suturing is used to attach tissue, then secure attachment is achieved, but procedure becomes time-consuming and invasive
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs disposable fasteners that are designed for single-use deployment. Each fastener is pre-formed and ready-to-use, eliminating the need for reusable suturing instruments and reducing sterilization requirements. These disposable fasteners provide sufficient attachment strength for gastric restriction while enabling rapid deployment without the time-consuming nature of traditional suturing techniques.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device allows for efficient gastric restriction with reduced operative time and post-operative recovery, eliminating the need for sutures and enabling faster patient recovery by creating a small stomach pouch that restricts food passage effectively.
Implementation Method 1
The end effector can include a plurality of suction ports formed within each trough for suctioning tissue therein.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are endoscopic gastric restriction devices and methods. In one embodiment, the device generally includes a shaft having an end effector on a distal end thereof. The end effector includes several elongate segments that are coupled to one another and include opposed troughs formed therein. Each trough is configured to suction and pull tissue into the trough, as well as hold a fastener that can be delivered to tissue disposed within the trough. As a result, the end effector can deliver multiple fasteners to opposed walls of tissue. As the fasteners are delivered into tissue, the segments can be detached from the device, so that the end effector remains in the tissue. Over time, the end effector can be absorbed and/or dissolve, leaving the fasteners behind.