Tubular Access Sleeve With Deployable Suction Pads
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive surgical techniques face challenges in accessing the pericardial space due to its small size and the difficulty in penetrating the pericardium without damaging the myocardium or coronary vessels, and in maintaining a stable vacuum seal for device insertion.
Innovation Solution
A tubular access sleeve with integrated suction pads that can be deployed to grasp and tension the pericardium, allowing for secure and stable access, and a cutting instrument can be used to create a perforation for device insertion without losing suction fixation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive surgical techniques are used to access the pericardial space, then patient trauma and recovery time are reduced, but the difficulty of penetrating the pericardium without damaging the myocardium or coronary vessels increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple functional components: a trocar for initial penetration, an expandable anchor with multiple arms for secure fixation, and a sealing mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while maintaining overall safety and minimizing trauma.
Solution Approach 2:
The trocar creates the initial access channel through the pericardium before the main device is deployed. The expandable anchor is prepared in a compressed state within the trocar, then deployed after safe penetration is achieved. This preliminary action ensures that penetration occurs before fixation, preventing premature tissue damage.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the pericardial space is accessed through small incisions, then surgical trauma is reduced, but maintaining a stable vacuum seal for device insertion becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor transitions from a compressed dynamic state during insertion to an expanded stable state after deployment. This dynamic transformation allows the device to adapt to the small incision while maintaining a stable vacuum seal once positioned, resolving the contradiction between minimal trauma and seal stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor's physical parameters (volume, surface area, structural configuration) change from a compact insertion profile to an expanded sealing profile. This parameter transformation enables the device to maintain a stable vacuum seal through small incisions without causing excessive trauma during insertion.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the pericardium is grasped and tensioned for stable access, then procedural stability is improved, but the risk of tissue damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor arms dynamically adjust their position and force application after deployment. They engage the pericardial tissue gently and progressively, allowing the tissue to be held stable without excessive force that could cause damage. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between stability and tissue protection.
4Ease of operation
If a cutting instrument is used to create a perforation for device insertion, then access to the pericardial space is achieved, but the complexity of the procedure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting function and the fixation function are merged into a single integrated device. The trocar creates the initial opening, and the expandable anchor immediately follows to secure the access site and maintain the perforation. This merging simplifies the overall procedure by combining multiple steps into one coordinated action, reducing procedural complexity while maintaining ease of access.
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
Enables reliable and minimally invasive access to the pericardial space, facilitating procedures like fluid withdrawal, drug delivery, and device implantation with reduced risk of tissue damage and improved procedural stability.
Implementation Method 1
maintaining a stable vacuum seal for device insertion
Implementation Method 2
integrated suction pads that can be deployed to grasp and tension the pericardium
Data Source
AI summary
A tubular access sleeve and suction tool for accessing an anatomic surface or anatomic space and particularly the pericardium to access pericardial space and the epicardial surface of the heart in a minimally invasive manner are disclosed. A suction tool trunk extending through a suction tool lumen of the sleeve is coupled to suction pads at the ends elongated support arms. The suction pads can be retracted into a sleeve working lumen during advancement of the access sleeve through a passage and deployed from the tubular access sleeve lumen and disposed against the an outer tissue layer. Suction can be applied through suction tool lumens to suction ports of the suction pads that fix to the outer tissue layer so as to tension the outer tissue layer and/or pull the outer tissue layer away from an inner tissue layer so that the anatomic space can be accessed by instruments introduced through the working lumen to penetrate the outer tissue layer.