Angled Tip Surgical Drain Preventing Mesh Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current negative pressure surgical drains face challenges in maintaining uniform pressure within soft tissue, particularly in the uterus and other body cavities, due to tissue collapse and difficulty in removing the drain without causing further damage or disrupting healing.
Innovation Solution
The development of a surgical drain system with a compliant mesh material and a shaped distal end that prevents mesh jamming, allowing for uniform negative pressure distribution and easy deployment and retrieval within soft tissue, using a tubular mesh that radially expands and inverts to facilitate fluid drainage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a negative pressure drain is inserted into soft tissue to apply suction, then fluid drainage is improved, but tissue collapse occurs around the drain location sealing off other regions from the pressure source
Solution Approach 1:
The drain is divided into multiple segments or zones along its length, with each segment capable of independent pressure application. This segmentation allows the negative pressure to be distributed more uniformly across multiple tissue regions, preventing localized tissue collapse while maintaining effective fluid drainage from multiple areas simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the drain are designed with varying properties to optimize local tissue interaction. The distal tip features a specific geometry that prevents tissue collapse, while other sections may have different pore sizes or material properties to adapt to local tissue characteristics, ensuring uniform pressure distribution throughout the treated area.
2Reliability
If a negative pressure drain is used to remove fluid from a wound site, then healing is improved by removing inflammatory mediators, but removal of the drain from healing tissue causes further damage and disrupts nascent healing
Solution Approach 1:
The drain is designed to be inverted or folded back on itself during removal. By inverting the drain structure, the outer surface that contacted the tissue becomes the inner surface during withdrawal, allowing the drain to be pulled through the tissue tract with minimal friction and trauma, thereby protecting the healing tissue from damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The drain incorporates flexible, biocompatible materials with smooth surfaces that minimize tissue adherence. The flexible construction allows the drain to conform to the tissue tract and be withdrawn smoothly without causing mechanical damage to the delicate healing tissue, while still maintaining structural integrity during use.
3Area of stationary object
If a mesh is extended from an elongate member for drainage, then drainage coverage is improved, but the mesh may jam during extension or retraction
Solution Approach 1:
The distal tip of the elongate member is designed with an asymmetric geometry that creates a favorable path for mesh extension. The asymmetric shape guides the mesh as it exits the elongate member, preventing binding or jamming by ensuring that the mesh layers separate smoothly during deployment and retraction, while still achieving full drainage coverage.
Solution Approach 2:
The distal tip features a curved or rounded geometry rather than a sharp edge. This curvature allows the mesh to roll or fold smoothly over the tip during extension and retraction, preventing jamming by eliminating sharp corners that could catch or bind the mesh material, while still providing adequate structural support for drainage coverage.
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
The system effectively generates and sustains uniform negative pressure within soft tissue, reducing complications and procedure time by preventing mesh binding and allowing for atraumatic insertion and removal, thereby enhancing healing and reducing bleeding.
Implementation Method 1
Negative pressure surgical drains, which are active surgical drains that use intermittent or continuous negative pressure to pull fluid and/or gas from a wound site or body cavity
Implementation Method 2
where suction may be applied via the first elongate member to drain fluid (e.g., blood, lymph, pus, etc.) from the wound or body cavity
Data Source
AI summary
Surgical drains including a tubular mesh that is configured to distally expand from and proximally retract into a distal end of a tube or catheter. The tubular mesh may be expanded into a soft tissue body region where suction may be applied to drain fluid and other bodily material from the soft tissue body region. The tubular mesh is configured to invert along an inversion region of the tubular mesh as it is extended from and withdrawn into the tube or catheter. The distal end of the tube or catheter has a shape that promotes smooth exit of the tubular mesh out of the tube or catheter and/or entry of the tubular mesh into the tube or catheter.