Cross-slit cannula seal for single-port surgery
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Solution Overview
Problem
In minimally invasive surgery, using multiple cannulas for multiple surgical instruments complicates instrument management and maintains insufflation gas pressure, as instruments are difficult to maneuver and insufflation gas often escapes through the access port during insertion and use.
Innovation Solution
A cross-slit cannula seal with folded sidewalls and ribs is introduced, which forms slits when closed, providing a concave end surface to maintain insufflation pressure and accommodate multiple instruments within a single cannula, preventing gas escape and enhancing mobility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple cannulas are used for multiple surgical instruments, then each instrument has dedicated access, but instrument management becomes complicated and insufflation gas escapes through access ports
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate cannulas into a single multi-lumen cannula structure. Multiple surgical instruments pass through separate lumens within one unified cannula body, eliminating the need for multiple separate access ports and reducing gas leakage pathways while improving instrument management through centralized positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The single cannula is segmented into multiple independent lumens, each capable of accommodating a separate surgical instrument. This segmentation allows independent instrument passage while maintaining a unified sealed structure, preventing gas escape through individual port openings that would exist in multiple separate cannulas.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a single cannula accommodates all instruments, then patient trauma is reduced, but it becomes difficult to manage instruments and maintain insufflation pressure
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple cannulas are merged into a single cannula structure with multiple lumens, reducing the number of incisions required to one instead of multiple separate incisions. This unified structure maintains insufflation pressure through a single sealed access point while accommodating all surgical instruments through its internal lumens.
Solution Approach 2:
The cannula incorporates flexible sealing elements including bellows structures and diaphragms that can deform to accommodate instrument passage while maintaining the seal. These flexible components allow instruments to move within lumens while the sealing surfaces conform to maintain pressure containment, preventing gas leakage despite instrument mobility.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a smaller cannula is used to reduce patient trauma, then incision size is minimized, but it becomes difficult to introduce and maneuver necessary instruments
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple surgical instruments are nested within separate lumens of a single cannula structure. The instruments are positioned concentrically within the cannula's internal architecture, allowing multiple tools to occupy the same external footprint. This nesting enables a smaller external cannula diameter while still accommodating multiple instruments through its internal compartmentalization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a single-dimensional instrument passage (one instrument per cannula) to a multi-dimensional arrangement with multiple lumens in different spatial orientations. Instruments are distributed across multiple lumens that can be arranged in various cross-sectional patterns, effectively utilizing three-dimensional space within the cannula to accommodate multiple tools in a compact configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
A cannula seal is presented. The cannula seal includes a cross-slit seal that can include a side wall that includes folded sidewalls; slits that are formed by the folded sidewalls when the cross-slit seal is in a closed position; and a concave end surface at the slits. The cross-slit seal can include energizing ribs formed to close the seal. The instrument guide includes a pyramidal shaped seal that seals against doors when no instrument is inserted and seals against an instrument when the instrument is inserted.