Collapsible Support Guide for Flexible Needle Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical insertion devices face challenges in preventing buckling of thin, long medical tools like needles during insertion, especially when encountering skin or hard tissues like bones.
Innovation Solution
The use of a collapsible support guide, such as flexible strips or a telescopic tube, to support the needle and prevent buckling while allowing continuous insertion without obstructing limited spaces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid support structure is used to prevent needle buckling, then the needle stability is improved, but the device complexity increases and the device cannot be used in limited spaces
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure is divided into multiple collapsible segments or telescopic tubes that can extend during needle insertion to provide support, then collapse to a compact size for storage and transport. This segmentation allows the device to provide rigid support when needed while maintaining low complexity and compact form when not in use.
Solution Approach 2:
The support structure transitions from a collapsed compact state during storage to an extended rigid state during needle insertion. This dynamic transformation allows the device to adapt its structural properties based on operational needs, providing stability during insertion while maintaining simplicity and compactness during storage.
2Length of stationary object
If a telescopic guide is used to support the needle, then the device height is reduced for use in limited spaces, but the mechanism complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The telescopic guide consists of nested tubes where one tube slides inside another. During needle insertion, the inner tube extends to provide support, then retracts into the outer tube to minimize device height. This nesting arrangement reduces device height for use in limited spaces while keeping the mechanism relatively simple compared to other telescoping designs.
Solution Approach 2:
The telescopic guide is pre-configured with the needle holder and guide components positioned to automatically align and support the needle as it is inserted. This preliminary arrangement eliminates the need for complex active control mechanisms during insertion, reducing overall mechanism complexity while maintaining compact device height.
3Stability of the object's composition
If friction-based pulling mechanism is used to prevent buckling, then the needle is supported during insertion, but radial forces may cause the needle to yield
Solution Approach 1:
A guide tube or channel is introduced as an intermediary structure that physically constrains the needle during insertion. This guide tube provides mechanical support to prevent buckling while distributing forces along the needle shaft, preventing localized stress concentration that would cause yielding. The guide tube acts as a mediator between the insertion force and the needle structure.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible guide sheath or covering is used to envelop the needle during insertion. This flexible guide provides mechanical support to prevent buckling while allowing the needle to be pulled through with minimal radial force. The flexible guide can conform to the needle shape and provides distributed support along the insertion path, preventing needle yielding.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for insertion of a flexible needle or other such instrument into a tissue, incorporating a collapsible support guide which supports that part of the needle which has not yet penetrated the tissue, preventing it from buckling, and an arrangement which pulls the needle from its proximal end to provide sufficient force for the penetration process. The collapsible support guide can be a pair of flexible strips connected along their length and enclosing the needle along its uninserted length in order to support it, with a mechanism at the distal end of the device to peel the strips from the needle as it is inserted. Insertion can be achieved by a pair of rollers engaging and advancing the strips distally. Alternatively, a telescopic support tube can be used to support the needle, the tube collapsing telescopically as the needle is inserted, to maintain clearance above the needle.