Ambidextrous Catheter Handle for Tactile Multi-DOF Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical tools, such as endoscopic and laparoscopic devices, lack tactile user feedback and are often expensive and complicated, limiting their ability to provide surgical access through minimally invasive routes.
Innovation Solution
A medical system with a control handle that allows control of one, two, three, four, five, or more than six degrees of freedom via a bendable shaft, featuring mechanisms like spring-loaded pins, fluid pathways, notches, ball sockets, and articulation joints for catheter articulation, and ambidextrous handles that can change orientation for enhanced user control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If robotic systems are used to allow surgical access via natural orifice, then surgical access capability is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical system is divided into separate functional modules: a control handle for user input, a flexible catheter with articulation sections for navigation, and an end effector for surgical action. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while reducing overall system complexity compared to fully integrated robotic systems.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible catheter acts as an intermediary between the control handle and the surgical site, enabling transmission of control forces while accommodating the anatomical pathways through natural orifices. This intermediary component simplifies the connection between user input and distal tool actuation.
2Measurement precision
If robotic systems with remote user interface are used, then surgical precision is improved, but tactile user feedback is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The control handle incorporates mechanical feedback mechanisms that provide the user with tactile information about the position and status of the distal tool. This feedback loop maintains the user's situational awareness and tactile connection to the surgical site despite the physical distance.
Solution Approach 2:
Complex electronic robotic systems are replaced with a mechanically coupled control system where the handle is directly linked to the catheter and end effector through flexible shafts and articulation mechanisms. This mechanical substitution preserves tactile feedback while achieving surgical precision.
3Loss of information
If conventional surgical tools are used, then tactile user feedback is provided, but surgical access through minimally invasive routes is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is constructed with flexible materials and thin-walled structures that allow it to navigate through natural orifices and tortuous anatomical pathways while maintaining the mechanical coupling needed for tactile feedback transmission from the distal end to the control handle.
4Ease of operation
If multiple degrees of freedom are controlled via bendable shaft, then user control flexibility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter incorporates dynamic articulation sections with ball sockets and notches that allow flexible positioning in multiple degrees of freedom. These articulation mechanisms provide controlled flexibility, enabling the catheter to navigate complex anatomical paths while maintaining manageable device complexity through standardized joint designs.
Data Source
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AI summary
A catheter, comprising: an ambidextrous control having a right-handed configuration and a left-handed configuration, the control including a body and a handle coupled to the body to permit change of the handedness of the control, wherein the handle has a first orientation relative to the body when the control is in the right-handed configuration, and the handle has a second orientation relative to the body when the control is in the left-handed configuration, the second orientation being different from the first orientation; and a distal section, wherein applying a force to the handle actuates the distal section.