Arthroscopic Suture Cutter Tip for Secure Capture and Cutting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional suture cutters struggle with effectively capturing and retaining high-strength sutures, particularly when they are tensioned or un-tensioned, leading to inefficiencies in cutting operations.
Innovation Solution
A suture cutter design featuring a handle with a biased lever, a longitudinally extending shaft, a tip with a transverse channel, and a movable blade, along with a guide assembly and pivot mechanism, allowing for easy loading and retention of sutures, even when tensioned or un-tensioned, ensuring precise cutting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional suture cutters are used to cut high-strength sutures, then the cutting function is provided, but the suture cannot be effectively captured and retained, particularly when tensioned or un-tensioned
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the suture handling function into separate components: a cradle for capturing the suture, a channel for guiding it, and a blade for cutting. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, improving both capture reliability and ease of operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The cradle acts as an intermediary element between the suture and the blade. It temporarily holds and positions the suture in a controlled manner, enabling reliable capture without requiring the suture to be tensioned, and facilitating smooth cutting operation.
2Strength
If high strength suture material is used, then the suture strength increases, but the suture becomes harder to cut and harder to capture
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle and channel are designed to preliminarily capture and position the suture before cutting occurs. This preliminary action secures the high-strength suture in place, making it easier to cut by ensuring proper alignment and tension control during the cutting stroke.
Solution Approach 2:
The device changes the physical parameters of suture handling by providing a dedicated cradle structure that modifies the suture's position and tension state. This allows high-strength sutures to be captured and cut more easily by controlling the tension parameter during the cutting operation.
3Reliability
If a suture cutter is designed to capture sutures, then suture retention is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle, channel, and blade are merged into a single integrated tip assembly that forms one cohesive unit. This merging reduces device complexity by eliminating separate components while maintaining effective suture retention through the combined functionality of the integrated structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The tip assembly serves multiple functions simultaneously: the cradle captures the suture, the channel guides it, and the blade cuts it. This multi-functionality in a single integrated component improves suture retention reliability while avoiding the complexity of multiple separate devices.
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 design enables efficient and secure capture and cutting of sutures without requiring tension, preventing unintended ejection, and facilitating smooth operation.
Implementation Method 1
a lever integrally formed with body so that the lever is biased to return to an initial position if the lever is moved from the initial position to an actuated position by a user
Implementation Method 2
The pair of opposing members of the guide assembly are coupled together by a pair of living hinges
Data Source
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AI summary
A suture cutter that can easily load and retain a tensioned or un-tensioned in place for cutting. The cutter has a handle with a an integral lever and a shaft is coupled to and extending from the handle. A tip has a cutting channel with a cradle for entrapping a suture prior to cutting. A piston in the handle drives a blade pusher to cut the suture in response to movement of the lever. A guide assembly in the body is formed from a pair of members folded together via a living hinge to provide a slot for the head of the piston. The pusher is planar and oriented horizontally within the shaft, while the blade is planar and is oriented vertically at right angles to the pusher. The blade has a tab that is captured by a notch in the pusher to interlock the blade and the pusher.