Digital Depth Gauge Stationary Interface Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional analog depth gauges are difficult to use for accurately measuring deep holes in bones due to readability issues under bright operating lights and awkward positioning in deep surgical fields, and existing digital surgical depth instruments can be cumbersome when working in constrained spaces.
Innovation Solution
A digital depth gauge with a proximally-oriented and stationary user interface, featuring a reader shaft, probe, sleeve member, and sensor for measuring relative movement, allowing for accurate depth measurements in deep surgical fields by maintaining a stable display orientation and facilitating easy handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a digital display moves with the probe through the bone, then the display remains visible to the user, but the instrument becomes awkward to position and obtain readings from in deep surgical fields
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument is divided into two distinct segments: a movable probe portion that extends through the bone and a stationary user interface portion that remains outside the body. This segmentation allows the display to remain visible while simplifying positioning, as only the probe needs to be inserted into the deep surgical field rather than the entire instrument assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
A telescoping mechanism acts as an intermediary between the probe and the user interface. This mechanism allows the probe to extend through the bone while maintaining a stable, stationary user interface portion outside the body, resolving the contradiction between display visibility and positioning ease.
2Device complexity
If a conventional analog depth gauge is used, then the device is simple, but the scale is difficult to read under bright operating room lights and requires precise alignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical analog scale with a digital display system. The digital display provides high-contrast, easily readable measurements that are not affected by bright operating room lighting conditions, eliminating the readability problems associated with conventional analog scales while maintaining device simplicity.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the user interface is positioned distally inside the deep surgical field, then the probe can reach deep areas, but the display becomes oriented inside the deep surgical field distal from the surgeon
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of positioning the user interface distally inside the body to reach deep areas, the patent inverts the arrangement by placing the user interface proximally outside the body. This allows the probe to extend into deep surgical fields while keeping the display and controls accessible to the surgeon outside the body cavity.
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 precise and convenient measurement of hole depths in deep surgical areas like the spine, hip, or pelvis by keeping the user interface stationary and visible, improving usability and accuracy compared to traditional methods.
Implementation Method 1
a sensor interposed between the reader shaft and the sleeve member for measuring relative translational movement between the reader shaft and the sleeve member
Data Source
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AI summary
A digital depth gauge is provided for measuring a depth of a hole in an object. In one embodiment the gauge includes: a user interface with a display and at least one actuator; a reader shaft with a distal end and a proximal end connected to the user interface; a probe that extends from the distal end of the reader shaft and which includes a tip configured to locate a distal surface of the hole; a sleeve member with a distal end configured to abut a proximal surface of the hole, the sleeve member being coupled with the reader shaft for relative translational and rotational movement; and a sensor interposed between the reader shaft and the sleeve member for measuring relative translational movement between the reader shaft and the sleeve member, hi some embodiments,- the gauge may include a means for aligning elements of the sensor.