Endoluminal Retractor System for Stable GI Working Spaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current endoscopic technologies lack the ability to create a stable, minimally-invasive working space around gastrointestinal tissues that can collapse during operations, fail to affix and stretch target and surrounding tissues effectively, and do not provide dynamic tissue retraction and instrument organization, leading to complex and unsafe procedures.
Innovation Solution
A reversibly-expandable retractor system with a flexible outer tube and floating channels/endoscope arrangement that allows for asymmetric expansion, dynamic retraction, and independent manipulation of tools and endoscope, creating a stable yet flexible operative environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional endoscopic procedures are performed without a retractor system, then the procedure is simpler to perform, but the working space collapses around the target lesion making manipulation and visualization difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor system is deployed before the main surgical manipulation to pre-establish a stable working space. The retractor elements are positioned around the target lesion and secured to the lumen wall in advance, creating a predetermined operational cavity that prevents tissue collapse during subsequent instrument manipulation and endoscopic visualization.
Solution Approach 2:
The retractor system is divided into multiple independent retractor elements that can be individually positioned and adjusted. These segmented elements allow for flexible configuration of the working space, enabling optimal manipulation angles and visualization pathways while maintaining structural stability through distributed attachment points on the lumen wall.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the working space is expanded to provide stable operative environment, then tissue manipulation is facilitated, but the procedure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor system integrates multiple functions into a single device: tissue retraction, space maintenance, and stabilization of the operative environment. The same retractor elements that create the working space also serve as attachment structures and positioning references, eliminating the need for separate devices and reducing overall procedural complexity despite the enhanced stability provided.
3Stability of the object's composition
If tissue is affixed and stretched to create stable operative space, then peristalsis is reduced, but tissue damage risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor system applies stabilization forces locally at specific attachment points on the lumen wall rather than uniformly across all tissues. The retractor elements are positioned to engage only the necessary portions of the tissue required for space maintenance, leaving surrounding tissues in their natural physiological state with minimal interference, thus reducing the risk of widespread tissue damage while still achieving operative stability.
4Ease of operation
If dynamic retraction is implemented to configure working space, then instrument maneuverability is improved, but the device becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor system incorporates dynamic adjustment capabilities that allow the retractor elements to be repositioned and reconfigured during the procedure. This dynamic functionality enables real-time optimization of the working space geometry to accommodate different instrument maneuvers and surgical approaches, with adjustment mechanisms integrated into the retractor structure itself rather than requiring separate control systems.
Data Source
AI summary
Improved methods and devices for performing an endoscopic surgery are provided. Systems are taught for operatively treating gastrointestinal disorders endoscopically in a stable, yet dynamic operative environment, and in a minimally-invasive manner. Such systems include, for example, an endoscopic surgical suite. The surgical suite can have a reversibly-expandable retractor that expands to provide a stable, operative environment within a subject. The expansion can be asymmetric around a stabilizer subsystem to maximize space for a tool and an endoscope to each be maneuvered independently to visualize a target tissue and treat the target tissue from outside the patient in a minimally invasive manner.