Articulable Arm Surgical Trainer for Resident Skill Development
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical training programs face challenges in providing adequate practice opportunities for residents due to restricted working hours and reduced operative experience caused by social distancing measures, necessitating a means for medical professionals to practice procedures outside the operating room.
Innovation Solution
A portable surgical practice system comprising a box with articulable arms that can be adjusted to various positions and orientations to simulate human tissues, allowing medical professionals to practice suturing and other surgical maneuvers in a realistic and portable manner.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If surgical training programs restrict residents' working hours, then resident well-being and work-life balance are improved, but operative experience and surgical skill development deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables residents to perform preliminary surgical practice outside the operating room using portable simulated tissue systems. This preliminary action allows skill development to occur during non-working hours, decoupling skill acquisition from restricted hospital hours and maintaining both well-being and operative experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copies of actual human tissues (simulated tissues with realistic anatomical properties) that can be practiced on outside the operating room. This copying enables skill development without requiring access to actual patients or hospital resources during restricted working hours.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If social distancing measures are implemented, then public health safety is improved, but total operative experience for surgical trainees deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs portable simulated tissue systems that replicate actual surgical scenarios, allowing trainees to maintain operative experience during social distancing. The simulated tissues provide realistic practice opportunities without requiring presence in hospital operating rooms or exposure to actual patients.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential surgical practice function from the hospital operating room environment and relocates it to portable systems that can be used anywhere. This extraction removes the dependency on hospital resources and enables continuous skill development during social distancing measures.
3Ease of operation
If portable surgical practice systems are developed, then accessibility and flexibility of training are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the surgical practice system into separate modular components: articulable arms, simulated tissue sections, gripping elements, and storage compartments. This segmentation allows each component to be independently designed and optimized, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining portability and functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs the portable system to perform multiple surgical training functions using a unified platform. The articulable arms can hold different simulated tissue sections, and the system can accommodate various surgical procedures, reducing the need for multiple specialized devices and simplifying the overall training ecosystem.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical practice system including a box that defines an inner compartment, and multiple articulable arms mounted to the box within the inner compartment, each arm including a gripping element provided at its distal end that is configured to grip an object.