Adjustable Cannula for Secure Tissue Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical access devices fail to effectively retract tissue beyond the initial incision, making it difficult to position and remove the device, which can cause tissue damage and prolong surgical procedures, especially in minimally invasive surgeries.
Innovation Solution
An adjustable surgical access device with a cannula that can change its diameter and length through a rotating actuator, allowing it to be easily inserted and anchored within a tissue opening, featuring a flexible band wound into a helix or a mesh material with invertible fibers for stabilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If an access device is snugly positioned in a small incision to minimize tissue damage, then cosmetic benefits and healing are improved, but removal requires excessive pullout force that causes tissue damage and prolongs the procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The cannula is designed with dynamic dimensional changes, transitioning from a compressed low-profile state for insertion to an expanded state for anchoring and removal. The cannula can increase its diameter and/or length during the procedure, providing secure anchoring that facilitates easy removal without excessive force, thereby resolving the contradiction between snug positioning and ease of removal.
2Ease of operation
If the cannula is expanded to increase diameter for easier removal, then ease of operation is improved, but the incision size must be larger reducing cosmetic benefits
Solution Approach 1:
The cannula maintains a low-profile compressed state during insertion through the small incision, then expands to a larger diameter after insertion to facilitate easy removal. This dynamic size change allows the incision to remain small for cosmetic benefits while the cannula provides sufficient diameter for easy removal when expanded.
Solution Approach 2:
The cannula can be inserted in a compressed or nested state within the housing, then deployed to its full expanded size after insertion. This nesting approach allows the cannula to pass through a small incision in a compact form while providing a larger working diameter once deployed, resolving the contradiction between incision size and removal ease.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the cannula is made longer to provide better anchoring, then stability is improved, but insertion difficulty increases in minimally invasive procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The cannula is designed to be compressible to a shorter length for insertion, then expandable to a longer length for anchoring. This dynamic length adjustment allows the cannula to be inserted easily in a compact state while providing sufficient length for stable anchoring once deployed, resolving the contradiction between insertion ease and anchoring stability.
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 secure positioning and easy removal of the access device, reducing tissue damage and procedural time while maintaining the cosmetic benefits of minimally invasive surgery.
Implementation Method 1
The cannula can include a flexible band formed into a helix having a plurality of coils
Implementation Method 2
The surgical access device can also include an actuator rotatably disposed on the housing such that rotation of the actuator relative to the housing is effective to move the cannula between an insertion configuration and a deployed configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices are provided for providing surgical access into a body cavity. In general, the methods and devices allow a surgical access device to be securely positioned within an opening in tissue to provide access to a body cavity underlying the tissue. An actuator can be rotatably disposed on or in a housing of a surgical access device such that rotation of the actuator relative to the housing is effective to move a cannula of the surgical access device between an insertion configuration in which the cannula has a reduced profile enabling it to easily be inserted into a tissue opening, and an expanded profile enabling it to form an anchor against and/or within the tissue opening.