Cap-Shaped Insulating Spacer for Endoscopic Plasma Surgery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Plasma-surgical apparatuses face challenges in preventing parasitic arcs on unintended tissues during endoscopic procedures, requiring precise distance control and complex resistive elements that are difficult to implement with standard components, leading to potential tissue damage and inefficient treatments.
Innovation Solution
A cap-shaped attachment with an insulating material is designed to maintain a defined distance between the electrode and target tissue, featuring a treatment aperture and an integrated resistive element, allowing for standardized components and preventing parasitic arcs by ensuring the electric arc only forms between the electrode and intended tissue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a plasma arc is used for tissue treatment, then thermal hemostasis and tissue coagulation are achieved, but parasitic arcs may form on unintended tissues causing harmful effects
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer acts as an intermediary component between the electrode and the tissue, maintaining a defined distance to prevent parasitic arcs while allowing the electric arc to form only on intended tissue when the spacer is properly positioned
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer is pre-positioned on the electrode before the procedure, establishing the correct distance in advance to prevent parasitic arcs during the plasma treatment process
2Reliability
If the electrode is positioned very close to the target tissue (approximately 2 mm) to ignite the electric arc, then arc ignition is achieved, but the distance control becomes critical and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer is pre-attached to the electrode with a defined length that establishes the required 2 mm distance, eliminating the need for complex real-time distance control mechanisms during the procedure
Solution Approach 2:
The spacer's fixed length automatically provides the correct distance positioning, allowing the system to self-regulate the electrode-tissue distance without additional control mechanisms
3Reliability
If a resistive element is positioned immediately upstream of the electrode to limit power, then current control is improved, but the stray capacitances influence the voltage drop
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer serves as an intermediary that electrically isolates the resistive element from the electrode tip, reducing the influence of stray capacitances on voltage drop while maintaining current control functionality
4Ease of manufacture
If standardized components are used for the plasma-surgical apparatus, then ease of manufacture and assembly are improved, but precise distance control and integration of resistive elements become more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The plasma-surgical apparatus is segmented into standardized modular components (electrode, spacer, resistive element) that can be manufactured separately using standard processes and then assembled, maintaining precision through the specialized spacer component
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
This solution ensures reliable ignition of the electric arc only on the intended tissue, reducing tissue damage and improving treatment precision, while allowing for standardized components and easier assembly through the endoscope, enhancing safety and efficacy of plasma-surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The electric arc is formed in a gaseous atmosphere, preferably in a noble gas atmosphere such as argon. Here, the gaseous atmosphere is ionized by the high field strength occurring on the pointed distal end of the electrode.
Implementation Method 2
a plasma-surgical method which is known as fulguration or spray coagulation is used in surgical operations, in particular for thermal hemostasis
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a spacer in the form of an attachment (15) to be mounted to an endoscope (1), said attachment being formed like a cap, enclosing a spatial volume (16) and being made of an insulating material. The attachment (15) is further equipped with a mounting device/adapter (6) designed to be coupled to a distal end of the endoscope (1). The attachment (15) comprises an area (11) designed to be in contact with a target tissue and further forms an aperture (12) enclosing a surface area (12a). Within the spatial volume, there is arranged an electrode (9) comprising a distal (9b) and a proximal (9a) end, the distal (9b) end of the electrode (9) having a predetermined minimum distance to the closest point of the surface area (12a).