Endoscopic Lens Cleaning via Pressurized Fluid Pulses
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Solution Overview
Problem
Minimally invasive medical procedures face challenges in cleaning the lens of visualization systems due to obstructions from patient tissue or fluids, which can lead to reduced navigation and operation efficiency, and existing methods may risk over-inflation or tissue damage during fluid-based cleaning.
Innovation Solution
A system and method utilizing a pressurized fluid delivery system with a pressure augmenting mechanism to provide a high-pressure pulse of fluid across the lens for a predetermined duration, minimizing fluid volume and reducing the risk of over-inflation, using a nozzle and valve control mechanism to ensure safe and effective cleaning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fluid-based cleaning method is used to clear obstructions from the lens, then the lens can be cleaned effectively, but there is a risk of over-inflation or tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic pulsing of pressurized fluid rather than continuous flow. The controller activates the fluid source in repeated short pulses, allowing cleaning effectiveness while limiting total fluid volume to prevent tissue over-inflation. This temporal modulation resolves the contradiction between achieving thorough cleaning and avoiding harmful over-exposure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts fluid delivery parameters including pressure, pulse duration, and pulse frequency based on real-time conditions. The controller monitors and modifies these parameters to optimize cleaning while preventing tissue damage, transforming a static harmful factor into a controllable dynamic process that adapts to patient-specific conditions.
2Ease of operation
If standard operating room supply pressure is used for fluid delivery, then the system is simple to operate, but the cleaning effectiveness is insufficient for severe obstructions
Solution Approach 1:
The system introduces a fluid source with a pressure augmenting mechanism as an intermediary between the operator and the lens cleaning process. This intermediary component provides the necessary high pressure for effective cleaning of severe obstructions while the controller manages the complexity, maintaining ease of operation for the end user.
Solution Approach 2:
The system utilizes pneumatic or hydraulic pressure augmentation mechanisms to generate high-pressure fluid pulses. These mechanisms convert lower-pressure input into high-pressure output, enabling effective cleaning of stubborn obstructions while keeping the overall system design manageable through specialized subsystems.
3Reliability
If continuous fluid flow is applied to clean the lens, then cleaning is thorough, but fluid volume accumulates causing over-inflation risk
Solution Approach 1:
The system replaces continuous fluid flow with periodic pulsing. The controller activates the fluid source in repeated short bursts rather than continuous operation, achieving thorough cleaning through cumulative effect while strictly limiting total fluid volume delivered to the patient, thereby preventing over-inflation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies fluid in multiple partial pulses rather than one continuous flow. Each pulse delivers a controlled partial amount of fluid, and repeated pulses accumulate to achieve thorough cleaning. This approach ensures sufficient cleaning action while preventing excessive total fluid accumulation that would cause over-inflation.
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
The solution effectively clears obstructions from the lens with reduced fluid volume, minimizing the risk of tissue damage and maintaining efficient visualization during minimally invasive procedures while ensuring patient safety.
Implementation Method 1
initiating a flow of a pressurized fluid across a surface of the medical instrument, the pressurized fluid having a pressure that is greater than a standard operating room supply
Implementation Method 2
A system and method utilizing a pressurized fluid delivery system with a pressure augmenting mechanism to provide a high-pressure pulse of fluid across the lens
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprises, based on a position of a medical instrument within a patient anatomy, determining, by a control system, whether an obstruction is on a surface of a lens of the medical instrument. The method further comprises, based on a determination that the obstruction is on the surface of the lens, instructing, by the control system, a valve control mechanism to open a valve to release a flow of pressurized fluid through a nozzle of the medical instrument and over the surface of the lens. The valve is configured to control provision of the pressurized fluid.