Crimping Instrument With Modular Loading Tool For Multiple Sutures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical crimping instruments are inadequate for handling multiple crimpable fasteners and suture ends simultaneously, especially when pledgets are involved, requiring a more efficient loading tool for managing multiple sets of sutures and fasteners.
Innovation Solution
A crimping instrument with a loading tool that includes a target cover with snare guides and suture openings, a target tray, and snare loops, allowing for the simultaneous handling and crimping of multiple suture fasteners through a handle-actuated mechanism that draws snare loops to secure the sutures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a traditional crimping instrument is used for single suture handling, then the device structure remains simple, but it cannot handle multiple crimpable fasteners and suture ends simultaneously
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument is divided into multiple functional modules: a crimping module with multiple receiving faces for different suture fasteners, a loading tool with separate compartments for multiple suture ends, and independent actuation mechanisms for each crimping position. This segmentation allows the instrument to handle multiple sutures simultaneously while maintaining manageable structural complexity through modular design
Solution Approach 2:
The crimping instrument is designed with universal receiving faces that can accommodate different types of suture fasteners (e.g., Ti-KNOT, COR-KNOT), and the loading tool is configured to handle various suture configurations including pledgets. The actuator system provides multi-functional capability to crimp multiple fasteners in sequence or simultaneously, making the instrument adaptable to diverse surgical requirements
2Productivity
If multiple suture ends are handled simultaneously, then surgical efficiency improves, but suture management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The loading tool is designed to pre-organize multiple suture ends in designated compartments before the crimping procedure. Each compartment is configured to hold specific suture configurations, and the loading mechanism automatically positions sutures in the correct orientation for crimping. This preliminary organization simplifies suture management during the actual crimping operation, allowing surgeons to achieve multiple crimps efficiently without managing complex suture handling during the procedure
3Ease of operation
If a loading tool is added to the crimping instrument, then loading capability improves, but the overall device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The loading tool is integrated with the crimping instrument through a unified actuator system and shared structural components. The loading tool's compartments are positioned to align with the crimping module's receiving faces, and the actuator mechanism that loads sutures is mechanically linked to the crimping actuation system. This merging reduces the need for separate loading and crimping devices, improving ease of operation while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity through component sharing
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
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AI summary
An instrument for crimping one or more suture fasteners to one or more corresponding surgical sutures is disclosed. The instrument also includes at least one shaft having one or more receiving faces, one or more anvils, one or more hammers, one or more pushers moveable in a direction substantially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the at least one shaft and configured to engage at least one of the hammer and the anvil for urging the hammer and the anvil together; and a loading tool. The loading tool may also include a target cover defining one or more snare guides, a target tray coupled to the target cover, one or more suture fasteners, one or more snare loops, and at least one handle.