Conical Stent Snare for Non-Visual Urethral Removal
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The removal of ureteral stents without visual aids is labor-intensive and often causes discomfort to patients due to the need for fiberoptic endoscopic instruments, which can be large and invasive, and existing methods like using strings require visual assistance for retrieval.
Innovation Solution
A stent snare tool with a conical head for hooking and dilating the urethra, featuring a channel for guiding over a guide wire, allowing for non-visual removal of stents and preventing false passages, constructed from biologically inert materials like surgical steel or plastics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If fiberoptic endoscopic instruments are used for stent removal, then visual guidance is achieved, but device complexity and patient discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the visual guidance component from the endoscopic instrument, separating the stent removal function from the visual inspection function. The stent removal snare operates independently without requiring fiberoptic endoscopic instruments, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining removal accuracy through the conical head design that hooks the stent directly.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide wire serves as an intermediary element that enables the stent removal snare to navigate through the urethra without visual guidance. The channel in the conical head guides the snare over the guide wire, allowing accurate navigation through distorted urethral structures while eliminating the need for complex endoscopic instruments.
2Reliability
If fiberoptic endoscopic instruments are used for stent removal, then stent removal is achieved, but patient discomfort increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the invasive fiberoptic endoscopic instrument from the stent removal process. The stent removal snare with its conical head provides a simpler, less invasive approach that maintains reliable stent removal through direct hooking and pulling mechanisms, thereby reducing patient discomfort while preserving removal reliability.
3Ease of operation
If strings are attached to stents for removal, then non-visual removal is enabled, but strings retract and require visual aids for retrieval
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the string-based retrieval mechanism and replaces it with a direct conical head design that hooks the stent. The conical head with its snare component provides a reliable non-visual removal method without the retracting string problem, as the snare directly grasps the stent for extraction through the urethra.
4Ease of operation
If blind dilation is performed, then urethral dilation is achieved, but false passages may form
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire acts as an intermediary that prevents false passage formation during dilation. The channel in the conical head guides the snare over the guide wire, ensuring that the dilation and stent removal occur through the correct anatomical path while maintaining operational simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for removing non-visually, urinary tract stents placed within the urinary tract of a patient, comprising a distal end, a longitudinally-extending stem, and a handle. The distal end has a conical head with a groove for hooking a stent, stent string or similar stent configuration. The snare head may have a channel for advancing the tool through a urethra over a guide wire. The snare head has a narrow conical front end for dilating urethral strictures. The stem connects the snare head to the snare handle and is made to be flexible or bend on encountering resistance.