Bendable Beam with Directional Rigidity for Single-Port Visualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional laparoscopic procedures involve multiple puncture sites, leading to multiple scars and challenges in maintaining access to internal structures, as the natural elasticity of tissue tends to close the openings, requiring ports to hold the sites open, which can limit the flexibility and invasiveness of surgical instruments.
Innovation Solution
A medical system comprising a camera head, a bendable beam, and a guide sheath that allows the beam to bend in one direction while resisting bending in the opposite direction, providing a stable and flexible mechanism for visualization and instrument access through a single port, with a handle and control wires for precise positioning and articulation of the camera head.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple puncture sites are provided for multiple instruments, then instrument access and triangulation are improved, but the number of scars and tissue damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The beam is inserted through the guide sheath, which itself passes through a single port. The beam can bend within the sheath to achieve multiple directions of access, nesting the articulation mechanism within the access pathway to provide multi-instrument capability through a single puncture site
Solution Approach 2:
The beam is made dynamically articulating with bends that can be actively controlled to change direction. This dynamic capability allows a single rigid access point to achieve the functional equivalence of multiple fixed access points, maintaining instrument versatility while reducing the number of puncture sites required
2Adaptability or versatility
If the beam is made bendable to navigate through the guide sheath, then flexibility and positioning capability are improved, but the beam may bend under its own weight and camera head weight, compromising stability
Solution Approach 1:
The beam exhibits different mechanical properties at different locations: it is flexible and bendable at the distal end where navigation and positioning are needed, while the proximal portion maintains higher rigidity to support the weight of the camera head and resist gravitational bending, achieving local optimization of both flexibility and stability
Solution Approach 2:
The beam's flexibility is provided in specific directional dimensions where bending is needed for navigation, while maintaining rigidity in other dimensions to support loads. This anisotropic mechanical behavior allows the beam to bend only when actively controlled while remaining stable under passive loads
3Ease of operation
If a port is used to hold the puncture site open, then access to the bodily cavity is maintained, but the natural elasticity of tissue closing the opening is overcome, requiring additional devices
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts the camera and illumination functions from separate access requirements and integrates them into the beam structure itself. The beam carries its own visualization capabilities, eliminating the need for a separate laparoscope port and reducing the number of required access points
4Stability of the object's composition
If the beam resists bending in the second direction, then linear alignment and stability are improved, but the beam cannot articulate in multiple directions for complex positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The beam's resistance to bending is asymmetric: it strongly resists bending in the second direction to maintain linear alignment and stability, while allowing controlled bending in the first direction for navigation. This asymmetric mechanical behavior provides both stability and selective articulation capability
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 improved visualization and access to bodily cavities with reduced scarring, allowing for minimally invasive surgeries with 4 degrees of freedom for the camera head, facilitating triangulation and reduced instrument obstruction, while maintaining stability under its own weight and the weight of the camera head.
Implementation Method 1
the beam is bendable in a first direction and resists bending in a second direction opposite the first direction
Data Source
AI summary
A medical system generally comprises a camera head, a beam, and a guide sheath. The camera head is connected to the beam which is bendable in a first direction and resists bending in a second direction opposite the first direction. The guide sheath slidably receives the beam, the beam extending through a distal end of the guide sheath such that the camera head projects from the distal end of the guide sheath. The guide sheath includes first and second sheath portions, and in an operative configuration the first sheath portion is angled relative to the second sheath portion to define a first bend. The beam is oriented relative to the guide sheath such that, as the beam is slid relative to guide sheath, the beam bends in the first direction through the first bend, and a projecting portion of the beam resists bending in the second direction.