Detachable Steering Plate Coupling for Disposable Steerable Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing steerable surgical instruments face challenges with complex manufacturing, high costs, difficulty in managing high forces and friction on steering cables, especially in longer instruments, and contamination issues that require thorough cleaning or disposal after each use.
Innovation Solution
A steerable instrument design featuring a locking plate and steering unit with elongated elements that allow for easy coupling and decoupling, enabling disposable instruments while reusing the steering device, and a support part to ensure proper positioning and tensioning of elongated elements for precise control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional steering cables with small diameters are used in the steering arrangement, then the instrument can achieve steering capability, but the cables experience high forces and friction especially in longer instruments making steering difficult to manage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces conventional cable-based mechanical steering with a magnetic field-based actuation system. Magnets embedded in the distal deflectable zone interact with externally applied magnetic fields to control deflection, eliminating the need for steering cables and their associated friction and force transmission problems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible circuit board with embedded magnets instead of rigid cable assemblies. This flexible substrate allows the magnetic actuation system to conform to the curved geometry of the deflectable zone while maintaining magnetic field integrity for precise steering control.
2Device complexity
If plastic extruded tubes with integrated channels are used for accommodating cables, then the instrument construction becomes simple, but the plastic tube deforms under high forces causing cables to be clamped and steering to be impeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the need for cable accommodation channels by replacing the cable-based mechanical steering system with a magnetic field-based system. The flexible circuit board with embedded magnets requires no internal channels for cable passage, avoiding deformation and clamping issues entirely.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a composite structure combining flexible circuit board material with embedded magnets. This composite provides both the flexibility needed for the deflectable zone and the structural integrity to maintain precise magnetic actuation without deformation under operational forces.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If disposable instruments are used to avoid contamination, then contamination risks are minimized, but manufacturing costs increase and waste is generated
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the instrument into separable components: a disposable distal deflectable zone containing magnets and a reusable proximal handle assembly. This segmentation allows the contaminated distal portion to be discarded while recovering the expensive steering and control mechanisms for repeated use.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a system where the distal deflectable zone with embedded magnets is designed as a disposable component that can be easily separated and discarded after use, while the proximal handle assembly with steering mechanisms is recovered and reused, reducing waste and overall cost.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the instrument is designed to be steerable with deflectable zones, then navigation capability is enhanced, but the distal end becomes complex to manufacture with separate links, hinging pins, and coils
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple discrete steering components (links, hinging pins, coils) into a single integrated flexible circuit board with embedded magnets. This unified structure eliminates the complexity of assembling multiple separate mechanical parts while maintaining the deflectable zone's navigation capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a composite construction combining flexible circuit board material with embedded magnets to create the deflectable zone. This approach simplifies manufacturing by using automated PCB fabrication techniques rather than manual assembly of complex mechanical linkages, while achieving the desired navigational flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A steering device for connecting to an elongated instrument comprises a locking plate with a coupling to which a steering plate of the instrument can secure such that the steering plate and the locking plate move together; and a steering unit for moving the locking plate. The elongated instrument comprises a plurality of elongated elements extending along an instrument shaft and secured to a steering plate at a proximal end of the instrument shaft, with the steering plate being movably connected around a support member secured to the shaft.