Surgical End Effector Buttress Retention Mechanism
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical instruments face challenges in uniformly compressing and stapling thin, high-fluid-content, or non-uniform tissue layers due to the difficulty in attaching and positioning buttress material, which can lead to improper staple formation and increased surgical time.
Innovation Solution
The end-effector assembly of a surgical instrument includes a buttress material that is releasably attached using connection members or adhesives, allowing for uniform tissue compression and easy attachment/detachment, with features like snap-fit mechanisms and adhesive activation to facilitate efficient staple deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adhesive is used to attach buttress material to jaw members, then the buttress material can be securely retained, but the surgeon must carefully align the material and may need to remove and replace it if misaligned, increasing surgical time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing pre-formed retention features (protrusions and recesses) on the buttress material and jaw member before the surgical procedure. These features are预先 manufactured to ensure proper alignment and secure retention without requiring careful manual alignment during surgery, thus reducing surgical time while maintaining reliable attachment
2Manufacturing precision
If buttress material is attached to jaw members during surgery, then tissue compression uniformity is improved, but the complexity of attaching and positioning the material increases surgical procedure complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the attachment system into discrete retention features (protrusions on one component and corresponding recesses on the other). This segmentation allows for simple, modular assembly of the buttress material to the jaw member, reducing the overall complexity of the attachment process while ensuring uniform tissue compression through proper positioning
3Device complexity
If traditional attachment methods are used for buttress material, then the structure remains simple, but the ease of operation for attaching and detaching the material is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by creating a reversible attachment mechanism where retention features can easily engage and disengage. The protrusion-recess configuration allows the buttress material to be readily attached to and detached from the jaw member during surgery, improving ease of operation while maintaining structural simplicity through the straightforward geometric features
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A piece of buttress material (36) and an end-effector of a surgical instrument including features which can aid a surgeon in properly and quickly attaching the piece of buttress material (36) to the end-effector. In various embodiments, a piece of buttress material (36) can include retention features (44) which can be engaged with portions of an end-effector to releasably retain the piece of buttress material (36) to at least a portion of the end-effector. Similarly, an end-effector can include features (46) configured to engage portions of a piece of buttress material (36) to releasably retain the piece of buttress material (36) to the end-effector. In at least one embodiment, more than one piece of buttress material can be releasably retained to an end-effector.