Capsule-Friendly Phaco Tips with Rounded Edges and Micro Wires
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional phacoemulsification tips with sharp edges and large ports risk capsule ruptures during cataract surgery, leading to vitreous loss, and there is a need for safer 'capsule-friendly' tips that can score and break up glossy, coagulated walls formed during femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery.
Innovation Solution
The development of 'capsule-friendly' tips with protrusions and micro wire designs that prevent capsule rupture by aspirating only soft cortex material, featuring rounded surfaces and airtight connections to avoid suction-induced damage, such as the mulberry tip with curved external surfaces and the Maltese cross tip with micro wires, which facilitate safe removal of cataract fractions without pulling in the iris or capsule.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional sharp tips with large ports are used for phacoemulsification, then aspiration efficiency is improved, but capsule rupture risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tip is designed with a rounded, spherical end surface instead of sharp edges. This curvature prevents the capsule from being punctured or torn during insertion and aspiration, eliminating the harmful effect of capsule rupture while maintaining aspiration functionality through the rounded port design.
Solution Approach 2:
The port size is optimized to a specific range (0.5-1.5mm) rather than being overly large, and the tip geometry is modified with specific curvature radii. These parameter changes maintain sufficient aspiration efficiency while preventing capsule rupture by limiting the port dimensions and using rounded contours.
2Manufacturing precision
If femtosecond laser is used to assist cataract surgery, then incision precision is improved, but glossy coagulated walls are formed that are difficult to remove
Solution Approach 1:
The tip incorporates ultrasonic vibration to mechanically disrupt the glossy coagulated walls formed by femtosecond laser. The high-frequency vibrations break up the coagulated cortex material, making it easier to aspirate while preserving the precision benefits of laser-assisted surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The rounded tip design is prepared in advance to gently score and pre-fragment the coagulated walls before aspiration. This preliminary mechanical action softens and breaks up the glossy surfaces created by laser, facilitating subsequent cortex removal without compromising the precise incisions made by the femtosecond laser.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If rounded surfaces are used on the tip, then capsule rupture is prevented, but ability to score and break up coagulated walls is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
Ultrasonic vibrations are applied to the rounded tip to provide mechanical energy for breaking up coagulated walls. This allows the rounded surface to maintain capsule safety while the vibration component enables effective scoring and fragmentation of the glossy coagulated material that would otherwise be difficult to remove.
Solution Approach 2:
The design merges the rounded capsule-friendly surface with ultrasonic vibration capability. This combination allows the tip to simultaneously prevent capsule rupture through its rounded geometry while effectively removing coagulated walls through mechanical vibration, resolving the contradiction between these two functions.
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
These tips effectively prevent capsule ruptures and enable safe removal of cataract fractions by ensuring only soft cortex is aspirated, reducing the risk of vitreous loss and improving surgical precision and safety by avoiding sharp edges and large ports.
Implementation Method 1
protrusions configured to collectively and cooperatively engage with epinucleus cortical material so as, under manual pressure and guidance, to score and break-up glossy, coagulated walls
Implementation Method 2
a suction force is imparted into the hollow of the hollow shaft to draw the divided cortical fibers through the hollow of the hollow shaft and out the port
Implementation Method 3
The tip is secured to the hollow shaft in an airtight manner
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical tool that includes a tip with a smooth, rounded edges and free of any sharp edges. The tip may have pores on its top, but none on the underside of its base. The distal end may have an open port with micro wires that form a Maltese cross shape. The distal end may be instead closed with protrusions spaced from each other by gaps or recesses.