Capsulotomy Cutting Ring Geometry for Uniform Heating
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tissue cutting devices with symmetric cutting rings experience uneven heating due to variations in wall thickness, leading to cold and hot spots that affect tissue cutting efficiency and collateral tissue damage.
Innovation Solution
The design of cutting rings with varying wall thickness and height adjustments at specific locations to maintain a consistent cross-sectional area, using features like tabs, slots, and bumps to ensure uniform current density and energy propagation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a symmetric cutting ring with uniform wall thickness is used, then the current density should be uniform, but manufacturing tolerances cause wall thickness variations leading to uneven heating
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the wall thickness at different locations around the cutting ring to compensate for manufacturing variations. Specifically, the wall thickness is adjusted locally at positions where thicker walls would create cold spots, ensuring uniform current density and heating across the entire ring despite inherent manufacturing tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent deliberately introduces asymmetry in the wall thickness distribution around the cutting ring. Instead of maintaining uniform thickness, the design uses non-uniform thickness patterns that counteract the asymmetric heating problems caused by manufacturing variations, transforming the symmetric design into an asymmetric one that achieves better performance.
2Productivity
If sequential micropulses of energy are delivered at fast speeds, then tissue disruption efficiency is improved, but uneven current density causes collateral tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses local quality adjustments in wall thickness to ensure that current density remains uniform across different locations of the cutting ring. This prevents hot spots that would cause collateral tissue damage while allowing fast sequential micropulse delivery to maintain high productivity and efficient tissue disruption.
3Manufacturing precision
If the ring height is varied to compensate for wall thickness variations, then current density uniformity is improved, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by varying the ring height at specific locations to compensate for wall thickness variations. The height adjustments are made locally where needed to maintain constant cross-sectional area, rather than uniformly changing the entire ring structure, thus balancing precision improvement with manageable manufacturing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes geometric parameters (wall thickness and height) to maintain a constant cross-sectional area around the cutting ring. By adjusting these parameters based on measured wall thickness variations, the design achieves uniform current density while keeping the manufacturing process feasible through systematic parameter modification.
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 approach prevents the formation of cold and hot spots, ensuring uniform heating and improved tissue cutting precision while minimizing collateral tissue damage.
Implementation Method 1
metal will not heat up uniformly around the ring. Portions of the ring with thicker walls will have cold regions and portions with thinner walls will have hot regions. This uneven heating is due to current density
Data Source
AI summary
A design is described herein for rings and for cutting rings for a device used in capsulotomy procedures. A set of ring dimensions can describe a desired height of a ring at each location of the ring. The set of ring dimensions is also associated with an intended wall thickness, and thus is associated with an intended cross-sectional area at each ring location. A wall thickness at each portion of a can vary from the intended wall thickness specified by the set of ring dimensions at various locations of the ring. At these locations, the height of the ring can be varied such that the resulting cross-sectional area of the ring at these locations is substantially similar to the intended cross-sectional area of the ring at the locations.