Surgical Buttress Plugs for Staple Line Reinforcement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical stapling apparatuses for endoscopic and laparoscopic procedures face challenges in reducing complexity and improving staple formation, particularly in small incisions, where tissue reinforcement is needed to prevent twisting or malformation due to misalignment or non-uniform tissue.
Innovation Solution
A surgical stapling apparatus with a housing and end effector featuring jaw assemblies with recesses and plugs made from degradable polymers, which secure surgical buttresses to the jaw assemblies, facilitating easy release during firing and providing reinforcement for staple lines, using materials like polyglytone 6211 and caprolactone for the plugs and buttresses.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surgical buttresses are used to reinforce tissue during stapling, then staple formation reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical buttress is integrated with the staple cartridge as a single unit, combining the reinforcement function with the stapling mechanism. The buttress is positioned within the cartridge housing and advances together with the staples, eliminating the need for separate buttress application devices and reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical buttress is pre-positioned within the staple cartridge before the stapling operation. This preliminary placement ensures the buttress is already in the correct position to reinforce the tissue, eliminating the need for separate positioning steps and ensuring consistent staple formation reliability.
2Ease of manufacture
If plugs made from degradable polymers are used to secure buttresses, then ease of manufacture is improved, but strength of attachment is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The plugs are made from degradable polymer material with specific mechanical properties that provide sufficient attachment strength during the stapling operation. The material parameters are selected to balance manufacturability with adequate holding strength, allowing the buttress to remain securely attached during firing while enabling easy release afterward.
Solution Approach 2:
The degradable polymer plugs undergo a phase transition or degradation process after serving their attachment function. This time-dependent property change allows the plugs to provide strong attachment initially, then gradually degrade or soften to facilitate easy release of the buttress from the cartridge after stapling is complete.
3Ease of operation
If recesses are formed in jaw assemblies to accommodate plugs, then ease of operation is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The jaw assembly is segmented to include discrete recesses that accommodate the plugs. This segmentation allows the recesses to be formed as separate features with standardized dimensions, making them easier to manufacture with consistent precision while providing clear operational guidance for plug placement and buttress attachment.
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
The solution simplifies the manufacturing and application of surgical buttresses, enhancing staple formation by securely attaching and releasing them during the stapling process, reducing complexity and improving tissue reinforcement, thus addressing the challenges of small incisions in minimally invasive surgeries.
Implementation Method 1
exposing the surgical buttress to heat and pressure to move the second material into the plurality of recesses
Implementation Method 2
plugs made from degradable polymers, which secure surgical buttresses to the jaw assemblies, facilitating easy release during firing
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical stapling apparatus includes a housing, an end effector, fasteners, and one or more surgical buttresses. The end effector is secured to the housing and has first and second jaw assemblies. The first jaw assembly defines slots and the second jaw assembly defines pockets. One or both of the first and second jaw assemblies define recesses. The fasteners are disposed in the slots of the first jaw assembly and are formed by the pockets of the second jaw assembly. The one or more surgical buttresses have a body that includes plugs that are integrally formed with the body for insertion into the recesses to secure the surgical buttress(es) to one or both of the first and second jaw assemblies. The body substantially overlies at least some of the slots of the first jaw assembly and/or at least some of the pockets of the second jaw assembly.