Deflectable Biopsy Cannula Navigating Obstacles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biopsy devices face challenges in accessing anatomical regions obscured by obstacles like bone, arteries, veins, ducts, or organs, posing risks of unnecessary trauma due to limited access options.
Innovation Solution
A deflectable biopsy device featuring a cannula with a preformed bend made from superelastic alloys like nitinol, combined with a sampling member and firing mechanism, allowing for controlled deflection and tissue sampling beyond the reach of conventional devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional rigid biopsy needle is used, then the device structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but it cannot access anatomical regions obscured by obstacles such as bone, arteries, veins, ducts, or organs
Solution Approach 1:
The biopsy device incorporates a deflectable cannula that can change its configuration from straight to bent, allowing it to adapt to different anatomical pathways. The cannula includes a bending zone that enables controlled deflection to navigate around obstacles while maintaining a relatively simple overall device structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cannula is constructed with a flexible design incorporating a bending zone with reduced wall thickness, allowing it to deflect and conform to complex anatomical paths. This flexibility enables access to obscured anatomical regions while keeping the device structure manageable through targeted thinning rather than complete redesign.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a deflectable cannula with bending zone is used, then access to difficult-to-reach anatomical sites is improved, but the risk of buckling during insertion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cannula features a bending zone with locally reduced wall thickness that provides controlled flexibility only where needed for deflection. The remaining portions of the cannula maintain full wall thickness and rigidity, preventing buckling during insertion while enabling the necessary deflection capability at the bending zone.
Solution Approach 2:
The bending zone is designed with a specific curved geometry that allows controlled deflection at a predetermined angle. This pre-formed curvature enables the cannula to navigate anatomical obstacles reliably without the instability that would result from excessive flexibility throughout the entire cannula length.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the cannula wall thickness is reduced in the bending zone, then flexibility and deflection capability are improved, but the structural strength is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The cannula employs local quality by reducing wall thickness only in the specific bending zone where flexibility is required, while maintaining full wall thickness in all other sections. This localized thinning provides the necessary deflection capability without compromising the overall structural strength and integrity of the cannula.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables safer and more effective tissue sampling by navigating around obstacles, reducing the risk of trauma and improving access to difficult-to-reach anatomical sites through controlled bending and deployment of the cannula.
Implementation Method 1
A deflectable biopsy device is disclosed including a cannula including a preformed bend and including a bending zone having a wall thickness less than a wall thickness of a straight walled portion
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a deflectable biopsy device (110) that includes a cannula (40) having a preformed bend (46), wherein the shape of the cannula (40) can be temporarily altered with the cannula returning to its original shape afterward. The deflectable biopsy device (110) also includes a sampling member (60) slidably disposed within the cannula (40) and operable therewith to collect a tissue biopsy.