Breakaway Suture Splice Locking for Easy Tail Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical sutures often require complex procedures for loading and implantation, and there is a need for easily releasable connections between multiple sutures or suture tails to facilitate different surgical activities without cutting or severing.
Innovation Solution
A breakaway suture construct assembly with a locking mechanism that allows multiple sutures or suture ends to be attached along their length, forming a splice region with releasable locking points, enabling easy separation without cutting, using sutures with textile or polymer materials and various locking techniques.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple sutures or suture tails are attached or connected together along their length, then loading and implantation procedures are simplified, but the ability to separate individual sutures for different surgical activities is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed as a separate modular component that can be independently applied to connect multiple sutures. This segmentation allows the sutures to remain connected during loading and implantation, yet can be easily separated by removing the locking mechanism, thus resolving the contradiction between simplified procedures and separability.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism serves as an intermediary element that temporarily connects multiple sutures together. This mediator allows the sutures to be handled as a unified group during loading and implantation, but can be removed to allow individual suture separation for different surgical activities, thereby resolving the technical contradiction.
2Reliability
If a locking mechanism is used to connect multiple sutures, then secure attachment is achieved, but the complexity of the suture construct increases
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed to distribute loads evenly across all connected sutures, creating equipotential stress distribution. This ensures secure attachment without requiring complex reinforcement structures, thus maintaining reliability while minimizing added complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism utilizes changes in friction parameters and geometric constraints to achieve secure attachment. By adjusting these parameters, the system provides reliable connection without requiring additional complex components, resolving the contradiction between secure attachment and construct simplicity.
3Productivity
If sutures are connected along their length, then passage through surgical tools and tissues is simplified, but the ability to utilize individual sutures for different activities is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The locking mechanism is designed with dynamic characteristics that allow it to maintain a locked state during surgical procedures for efficient passage through tools and tissues, yet can be easily released when individual suture utilization is needed. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between procedural efficiency and adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
The locking mechanism enables periodic transitions between connected and separated states. During surgical procedures, sutures remain connected for efficient handling and passage, then can be separated for individual activities, creating a periodic pattern of connection and separation that resolves the contradiction between productivity and versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
The embodiments disclosed herein are breakaway suture constructs containing releasable locking connections and/or methods of assembly that allow a plurality of sutures, and/or suture ends to be attached or connected together along a portion of their length to form a spliced region that unifies the sutures or suture ends and prevent movement of a suture end relative to other suture end. The releasable connections allow the surgeon to easily manipulate the spliced suture ends with little or no force to result in the unified ends of the sutures to be separated without requiring cutting or severing of the individual sutures or the releasable locking connections.