Adjustable Surgical Pointer With Shaft Translation and Length Tracking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical pointers often require multiple lengths to accommodate different surgical procedures and user preferences, leading to potential mismatches and health risks due to imprecise object positioning.
Innovation Solution
A length-adjustable surgical pointer with a movable shaft relative to the handle, featuring optical indicators for precise length adjustment, allowing continuous or discrete adjustments, and integrated tracking for accurate surgical navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple pointers of different lengths are provided, then the adaptability to different surgical procedures and user preferences is improved, but the device complexity and quantity of equipment required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pointer shaft is designed with a movable section that can be adjusted along the shaft axis, transforming a static fixed-length pointer into a dynamic adjustable-length pointer. This allows a single pointer to adapt to multiple surgical procedures and user preferences by changing its effective length during use, eliminating the need for multiple separate pointers.
Solution Approach 2:
The pointer is designed with universal adaptability through the adjustable shaft mechanism, allowing one pointer to perform the functions of multiple pointers with different lengths. The handle, tracker, and tip remain consistent while the shaft length can be modified to suit various surgical requirements, making the device universally applicable across different surgical scenarios.
2Measurement precision
If a fixed-length pointer is used, then the device simplicity is maintained, but the measurement precision and surgical accuracy deteriorates when the wrong length is selected
Solution Approach 1:
The pointer incorporates a movable shaft section that can be dynamically adjusted to the appropriate length for each surgical task, ensuring measurement precision is maintained across different procedures. The adjustability allows the pointer to achieve the correct geometric relationship between the tracker and tip for accurate position determination, while the locking mechanism ensures stability once adjusted.
Solution Approach 2:
The pointer length parameter can be changed by moving the shaft section along the shaft axis. This parameter adjustment enables the pointer to maintain high measurement precision for different surgical procedures by optimizing the distance between the tracker and the tip for each specific application, rather than being constrained to a fixed length.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the shaft is made movable for length adjustment, then the adaptability to different surgical needs is improved, but the reliability and stability of the pointer structure deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pointer employs a dynamic structure where the shaft section can move along the shaft axis for length adjustment, but includes a locking mechanism that stabilizes the structure once the desired length is achieved. This dynamic design allows adaptability during adjustment while maintaining reliability during use, as the locking feature prevents unintended movement and ensures structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft is divided into a fixed portion and a movable portion, with the movable section capable of sliding along the shaft axis. This segmentation allows independent optimization: the fixed portion provides structural stability and housing for the tracking components, while the movable portion enables length adjustment. The interface between segments includes locking features that ensure reliability when adjusted to the desired length.
Data Source
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Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
A length-adjustable surgical pointer 200 is provided. The pointer 200 comprises a shaft 250 carrying a pointing tip 252 and a handle 210 supporting the shaft 250. At least a portion of the shaft 250 is movable in a translatory manner relative to the handle 210 so as to adjust a distance between the pointing tip 252 and the handle 210.