Articulating Cardiac Stabilizer for Small-Port Robotic Bypass
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stabilization tools for cardiac surgery, particularly in minimally invasive procedures like TECAB, face challenges in inserting through small incisions due to their dimensions and suction capability, making it difficult to stabilize the heart effectively during robotic surgeries.
Innovation Solution
A reconfigurable, elongated stabilizer tool with a suction mechanism that can be inserted through small incisions, featuring an articulating hub and pivotable suction arms that adhere to the heart surface via vacuum pressure, allowing for precise stabilization and adjustment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a stabilizer tool with suction capability is designed to effectively stabilize the heart surface, then the stabilization effectiveness is improved, but the tool dimensions become too large to insert through small incisions
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizer tool is divided into multiple segments including a support tube, articulating hub, and suction arms that can be folded relative to each other. This segmentation allows the tool to collapse into a compact configuration for insertion through small incisions while maintaining full functionality when deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The tool incorporates dynamic articulation mechanisms that allow the suction arms to pivot and adjust their position. The articulating hub enables the suction arms to move between a compact stored position and an extended working position, providing adaptability between insertion and stabilization phases
2Adaptability or versatility
If the suction arms are designed to pivot freely for adjusting position, then the adaptability is improved, but the structural stability deteriorates when stabilization is required
Solution Approach 1:
The articulating hub provides dynamic articulation that allows the suction arms to pivot freely during positioning while maintaining structural integrity during stabilization. The mechanism transitions from a flexible state for adjustment to a stable state for holding position
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes its mechanical parameters by engaging or disengaging the articulation mechanism. When stabilization is required, the articulation is locked to provide rigid support; when positioning is needed, the articulation is freed to allow movement
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
Enables effective stabilization of the heart during minimally invasive surgeries, facilitating anastomosis without the need for large incisions, and allowing surgeries to be performed on a beating heart.
Implementation Method 1
The suction arms are configured to attach to a source of vacuum pressure. The suction arms are configured to adhere to a tissue surface of the patient when receiving the vacuum pressure.
Data Source
AI summary
A reconfigurable tool carries suction pods adapted for robotic surgery wherein a distal end with the suction pods is insertable through a small port incised in a living body to reach a working space for performing cardiac repairs. The tool has an articulating hub with a base part and a sliding part, wherein the suction pods pivot from the sliding part. The base part has a keyed surface configured to interlock with a keyed surface of the pods. A pullcord for retracting the suction pods toward a support tube of the tool has a loosened state wherein the first and second keyed surfaces can be spaced apart so that the suction pods can be spread for grasping a tissue to be stabilized at desired locations. The pullcord has a tightened state wherein the first and second keyed surfaces are interlocked so that the suction pods are inhibited from pivoting.