Actuating Member Curving Control for Medical Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing actuating members for elongated medical instruments cannot accurately curve the instrument to match the desired radius of curvature for target sites within the body, as they either fail to achieve small radii at low operation amounts or large radii at high operation amounts, limiting their conformity to specific anatomical targets.
Innovation Solution
An actuating member with a push-pull mechanism and guide grooves that allow for relative movement of moving parts and a curving motion restricting member, enabling various curving motions by adjusting the position and connection of the restriction member, allowing for precise curvature control through an operation member's rotation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a conventional actuating member with a pulley and operation wire is used, then the elongated member can be curved through rotation of the operation member, but the radius of curvature cannot be appropriately controlled at different operation stages (small radius at low operation amount or large radius at high operation amount)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a curving motion restricting member that can dynamically adjust its position along the elongated member's axis through guide grooves. This dynamic positioning allows the system to change the effective curvature radius adaptively: when the restricting member is positioned proximally, it enables small radius curvature; when positioned distally, it enables large radius curvature. This resolves the contradiction by making the curvature control dynamic rather than fixed.
Solution Approach 2:
The curving motion restricting member acts as an intermediary between the operation member and the elongated member's curvature. By introducing this intermediate component that can be positioned at different locations, the system gains the ability to mediate and control the curvature radius. The guide grooves in the operation member and the restricting member work together to enable precise control of this intermediary's position, thereby achieving the desired curvature control precision while maintaining adaptability to different target sites.
2Ease of operation
If the operation member rotates to curve the elongated member, then curving motion is achieved, but the instrument size increases due to the pulley mechanism
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and eliminates the pulley component from the conventional actuating member design. Instead of using a pulley mechanism to translate rotational motion into linear motion of the operation wire, the invention uses guide grooves directly formed in the operation member and the curving motion restricting member. This extraction of the pulley reduces the overall volume of the actuating member while maintaining the curving operation capability through the guide groove mechanism.
3Device complexity
If the curving motion restricting member is fixed, then the structure is simple, but the elongated member cannot be appropriately curved for diverse target sites
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the curving motion restricting member dynamic by enabling it to move along the axial direction of the elongated member through the guide grooves. This dynamic capability allows the restricting member to be positioned at different locations depending on the desired curvature, providing adaptability to diverse target sites. The movement is guided by the guide grooves in the operation member and the restricting member itself, which control the position and movement range of the restricting member while maintaining relatively simple structural complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An actuating member for causing a flexible elongated member for medical use to perform a predetermined curving motion includes a push-pull member including a first moving part and a second moving part which are configured to be movable relative to one another in an axial direction of the elongated member, the first moving part and the second moving part being pushable and pullable so as to cause the elongated member to curve in the axial direction of the elongated member; a curving motion restricting member which is configured to be movable in the axial direction of the elongated member, and which is configured to restrict curving of at least a portion of the elongated member; and an operation member configured to operate movements of the first moving part, the second moving part, and the curving motion restricting member.