Cut-Resistant Mesh Guards for Controlled Tissue Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical methods for removing tissue through body openings, such as incisions or orifices, risk leaving behind malignant tissue during morcellation, particularly in procedures like hysterectomies and myomectomies, due to the potential for cancer spread and undetected malignancy, necessitating safer and more controlled tissue reduction techniques.
Innovation Solution
A cut-resistant mesh guard with a tubular shape and flexible, interwoven filaments is designed to provide a protective pathway through body openings, featuring flanges for anchoring and a deformable configuration to accommodate varying anatomies, ensuring safe containment and extraction of tissue while minimizing the risk of tissue dispersion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If manual or power morcellation is used to reduce tissue size for removal through small incisions, then tissue can be extracted through minimal access sites, but malignant tissue may be dispersed and left behind in the patient
Solution Approach 1:
A containment bag is introduced as an intermediary device between the tissue and the surgical field. The bag encloses the tissue during morcellation, allowing size reduction while preventing malignant cells from dispersing into the patient's body cavity. The bag acts as a controlled environment that mediates between the need for tissue reduction and the need to prevent cancer spread.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment bag is inserted through the small incision and deployed inside the body cavity, creating a nested structure where the bag is contained within the body cavity but provides a barrier against tissue dispersion. This nesting approach allows the incision to remain small while the bag provides sufficient working space for safe morcellation.
2Productivity
If power morcellation is used to rapidly reduce tissue size, then surgical productivity increases, but the risk of undetected malignancy spread increases
Solution Approach 1:
The containment bag serves as a protective intermediary that enables rapid power morcellation while containing malignant cells. The bag material is designed to resist cutting forces while providing a barrier, allowing high-speed tissue reduction without the harmful side effect of cancer cell dispersion into the surgical field.
Solution Approach 2:
The containment bag converts the potentially harmful effect of rapid tissue fragmentation into a beneficial process by channeling all fragmentation activity within the enclosed bag space. The harmful dispersion of malignant cells is transformed into a controlled environment where fragments remain contained and can be safely removed together with the bag.
3Strength
If the containment bag material is made highly resistant to cutting forces, then bag integrity is maintained during morcellation, but the bag becomes difficult to insert through small incisions
Solution Approach 1:
The containment bag exhibits dynamic mechanical properties, transitioning from a compressed, flexible state during insertion to an expanded, rigid state during use. The bag material is designed to be compliant and foldable for easy insertion through small incisions, then expands to provide sufficient strength and cut resistance during the morcellation process.
Solution Approach 2:
The bag insertion process is segmented into distinct phases: compression/folding for insertion, deployment/expansion for use, and removal for disposal. This segmentation allows the bag to have different mechanical characteristics at different stages of the surgical procedure, optimizing both ease of insertion and cut resistance during the actual morcellation operation.
Data Source
AI summary
A guard for providing a cut-resistant pathway through a body orifice or incision to circumferentially protect tissue at the margin is provided. The guard is made of flexible, cut-resistant mesh material having a plurality of interwoven thermosoftening filaments. The guard has a central lumen and at least one flared end. The flared end, which serves to anchor the guard in the body opening, is deformable into a reduced configuration to facilitate its insertion and removal. The layer of mesh stretches laterally to increase the diameter of the central lumen. The flexibility and expandability of the guard allows the guard to conform to body openings of different sizes. The guard may include a drawstring to cinch the flared distal end from the proximal end. The guard is thermoset with the flared distal end that is biased to spring back to its normal, undeformed configuration when released from a deformed configuration.