Endoscopic Tool Partial Stopper for Marker Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscopic medical tools face challenges in accurately and efficiently deploying radiopaque markers within body cavities, particularly in areas with significant movement due to respiration, such as the lungs, as they require precise tracking and placement during stereotactic radiotherapy.
Innovation Solution
An endoscopic medical tool featuring a flexible sheath with an elastically deformable stopper and a pusher mechanism that allows for controlled ejection of markers, where the stopper is partially formed along the inner cavity to prevent marker fall-out and reduce the force required for ejection, enabling precise placement and easy operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the stopper is formed continuously over the entire circumference of the inner cavity to prevent marker fall-out, then the reliability of marker retention is improved, but the force required for ejection increases and operational ease deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper is segmented into discrete radial protrusions rather than forming a continuous circumferential barrier. This segmentation allows the marker to be retained reliably while creating gaps through which the pusher can more easily force the marker out, reducing the ejection force required.
Solution Approach 2:
The stopper provides localized retention barriers at specific radial positions rather than uniform circumferential constraint. This local quality approach maintains marker retention at critical points while leaving other areas open for easier ejection, resolving the contradiction between retention reliability and ejection ease.
2Manufacturing precision
If the sheath distal opening is formed with a narrow inner diameter to control marker placement, then the manufacturing precision of marker positioning is improved, but the ease of inserting the marker into the sheath deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The marker is pre-loaded into the sheath in a relaxed state before the distal opening is constricted. This preliminary action allows easy insertion without fighting the narrow opening, and the precision positioning is achieved when the marker is pushed against the stopper at the final placement position, not during initial insertion.
3Ease of operation
If the stopper is made elastically deformable to reduce ejection force, then the ease of operation is improved, but the strength of the stopper to prevent marker fall-out deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The stopper transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic elastically deformable structure. During normal operation, the stopper maintains sufficient strength to prevent marker fall-out, but during ejection, it can deform elastically under pusher force to reduce resistance, allowing easy marker ejection while maintaining retention strength.
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 allows for reliable and controlled deployment of markers with reduced operational force, enhancing precision and safety during procedures like stereotactic radiotherapy, especially in challenging anatomical locations like the lungs.
Implementation Method 1
an elastically deformable stopper which is provided projecting out toward the inner cavity in a distal end portion of the sheath, and prevents the member which has been loaded inside the sheath from falling out of the sheath
Data Source
AI summary
An endoscopic medical tool is endoscopically inserted into a body cavity in order to eject a member into the body cavity, and includes: a flexible sheath having an inner cavity; an elastically deformable stopper which is provided projecting out toward the inner cavity in a distal end portion of the sheath, and prevents the member which has been loaded inside the sheath from falling out of the sheath; and a pusher which is inserted into the sheath in a freely advancing and retracting manner, and which pushes out and ejects the member from the sheath. In the endoscopic medical tool, the stopper is formed in only a partial region of the inner cavity so that the stopper does not continuously formed over the entire circumference of the inner cavity.