Carousel Applicator for Secure, Scan-Visible Surgical Markers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for marking surgical cavity boundaries are imprecise, leading to potential exposure of healthy tissues to radiation during post-surgical therapy due to confusion in clip placement and migration, and existing markers lack unique features for clear delineation or are inefficient to attach securely to tissue.
Innovation Solution
A device and system for deploying surgical site markers using an applicator with a carousel, shaft assembly, and sheath to securely attach markers with unique indicia, ensuring clear delineation and visibility on scans, and a method for applying these markers to tissue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard vessel clips are used to mark surgical cavity boundaries, then the procedure is simple and quick, but the clips lack unique features for clear delineation and may migrate around the surgical cavity
Solution Approach 1:
The marker is designed with differentiated local qualities: a radiopaque body for visibility on scans, unique indicia for identification, and specific attachment features for secure fixation to tissue. This resolves the contradiction by providing both ease of operation and reliable, clear boundary delineation through specialized local characteristics rather than generic clip design.
Solution Approach 2:
The marker incorporates radiopaque materials that appear distinct on imaging scans, creating visual differentiation similar to color changes. This allows clear delineation of surgical boundaries on medical imaging, resolving the issue of standard clips lacking unique identifying features while maintaining simple placement procedures.
2Measurement precision
If multiple clips are placed to clearly delineate the surgical cavity, then boundary identification improves, but the complexity of the procedure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The marker serves multiple functions in a single integrated design: it provides radiopacity for scan visibility, includes unique indicia for identification, and incorporates secure attachment mechanisms. This multi-functionality allows precise boundary identification without requiring multiple separate clips or complex placement procedures, resolving the contradiction between precision and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention combines multiple previously separate functions (radiopacity, identification markings, and secure attachment) into a single integrated marker device. This merging eliminates the need for multiple separate clips while maintaining precise boundary delineation, thereby reducing procedural complexity without sacrificing measurement precision.
3Productivity
If clips are used to mark surgical margins, then the procedure is efficient, but confusion arises when viewed by different clinicians or during subsequent surgeries
Solution Approach 1:
The marker incorporates unique indicia and differentiated local characteristics that provide clear, unambiguous identification of specific margins. This resolves the information loss problem by ensuring that different clinicians can clearly distinguish and identify marked boundaries during subsequent procedures, while maintaining efficient marking procedures through the integrated design.
4Reliability
If suture is used to attach markers to tissue, then secure attachment is achieved, but the procedure becomes slow and creates potential for additional complications
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the time-consuming suture attachment step from the marker application process by integrating direct tissue attachment features into the marker design itself. This allows secure attachment to be achieved through the marker's built-in mechanisms rather than requiring separate suture procedures, thereby maintaining reliability while significantly reducing application time and potential complications.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure relates to a surgical device for deploying site markers within a surgical site. The surgical device can include a housing, a carousel rotatably coupled to the housing, at least one site marker retained by the carousel, and a shaft assembly that extends through the housing and slidingly engages the housing and carousel, and a sheath coupled to the housing. The shaft assembly can include a drive member configured to engage the site marker and a retention member configured to selectively retain site marker. The sheath can be disposed around the shaft assembly and can include an opening at a distal end sized and shaped to permit the site marker to exit the surgical device.