Biopsy Needle Locking Mechanism for Precision Sampling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Prior art biopsy needle arrangements collect excessive tissue and risk bacterial contamination during insertion, leading to potential infection, with increasing antibiotic resistance rendering chemical solutions less effective.
Innovation Solution
A biopsy needle arrangement with a locking mechanism between the needle tip and sheath, ensuring no gap between them, combined with a 'plough' or conical tip configuration for precise tissue sampling and reduced bacterial collection, minimizing tissue displacement and infection risk.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a biopsy needle arrangement is used to collect tissue samples, then biopsy sampling capability is improved, but bacterial contamination risk increases due to large amount of tissue collected during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The needle arrangement is divided into distinct functional segments: a sheath that remains stationary during insertion, and a needle assembly that can be advanced independently. The needle includes a shaft portion and a tip portion with a cutting edge, allowing tissue sampling to occur only at the target location rather than along the entire insertion path.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting edge is extracted as a separate functional element at the tip of the needle, distinct from the insertion path. This allows the needle to penetrate tissue without collecting excessive material along the trajectory, and only at the specific target point where the cutting edge engages the tissue to obtain the biopsy sample.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If antibiotics are used to address bacterial contamination, then infection risk is reduced, but effectiveness decreases due to increasing antibiotic resistance
Solution Approach 1:
The design converts the potential harm of needle insertion into a benefit by ensuring that the needle tip is sharp and precise, allowing for minimal tissue disruption and reduced bacterial release. The cutting edge is designed to cleanly excise tissue rather than tear or crush it, which reduces the risk of bacterial contamination while maintaining effective biopsy sampling.
3Ease of operation
If the needle tip is allowed to move freely relative to the sheath, then ease of operation is improved, but biopsy precision decreases due to gap formation and tissue displacement
Solution Approach 1:
The needle assembly is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to be advanced relative to the sheath during insertion, then locked in position once the target depth is reached. This dynamic design provides ease of operation during insertion while ensuring precision during the biopsy sampling phase.
Solution Approach 2:
A locking mechanism acts as an intermediary between the needle assembly and the sheath, maintaining a precise fixed relationship during the biopsy sampling phase while allowing relative movement during insertion. This intermediary mechanism ensures that the cutting edge remains properly positioned relative to the sheath opening for accurate tissue sampling.
4Ease of operation
If the second sheath opening edge is positioned high relative to the cavity bottom, then ease of operation is improved, but biopsy quality deteriorates due to upward lifting forces on tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The sheath opening is designed with differentiated local qualities: the first sheath opening edge is positioned to engage the tissue for cutting, while the second sheath opening edge is positioned lower to prevent upward lifting forces. This local differentiation ensures that each part of the sheath opening performs its specific function optimally, with the second edge acting as a support surface rather than a lifting force.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1d
Figure 2a~2e
Figure 3a~3c
AI summary
A biopsy needle arrangement (20) comprises a needle sheath (22) and a needle (21) configured to lock a tip portion (23) of the needle in relation to the sheath when the needle arrangement has obtained a closed state. The locking, which is obtained by configurations of sheath opening edges and proximal tip edges, between the tip portion of the needle and the sheath is in a third direction Z as well as in a rotational sense in that the tip cannot rotate around a longitudinal axis defined by a first direction X.