Endoscopic Spool Controller Prevents Device Reuse
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional endoscope devices for dispensing medical devices in patients are often single-use and not designed for reloading, posing challenges in sterilization and increasing the risk of disease transmission and device failure.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with a handle body, a spool, a catheter, and an actuator that allows for the sequential dispensing of pre-loaded devices, with a spool controller using a ratchet mechanism to prevent further dispensing after a predetermined number of devices have been used.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If single-use endoscope devices are used for dispensing medical devices, then patient safety is improved by reducing infection risk, but device complexity and sterilization difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into a reusable handle body and disposable catheters with dispensable devices. The handle body can be sterilized and reused, while the catheter portion is discarded after a single use, eliminating the need to sterilize the entire device and reducing infection risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter with dispensable devices is designed as a single-use component that is discarded after one patient procedure. The handle body is recovered and sterilized for reuse, optimizing the balance between safety and resource utilization.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If single-use endoscope devices are used, then infection risk is reduced, but device cost and waste increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into disposable catheter components and reusable handle components, allowing only the necessary disposable parts to be discarded while recovering and reusing the expensive handle body, thus reducing overall waste and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is discarded after single use to eliminate infection risk, while the handle body is recovered and sterilized for reuse, optimizing the balance between infection control and resource efficiency.
3Ease of manufacture
If reloadable endoscope devices are used, then device cost is reduced, but sterilization difficulty and infection risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into reusable and disposable portions, allowing the handle body to be reloaded with new catheters for multiple uses while maintaining infection control by discarding the catheter after each use.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is discarded after single use to eliminate infection risk, while the handle body is recovered and reused with new catheters, achieving both cost efficiency and infection control.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple dispensable devices are dispensed sequentially, then treatment versatility is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple dispensable devices are nested within the catheter in a compact arrangement, allowing sequential dispensing of multiple devices through a single catheter without requiring separate catheters for each device, thus maintaining simplicity while achieving versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is designed as a universal platform that can dispense multiple different types of dispensable devices sequentially, allowing a single catheter to perform multiple treatment functions without requiring separate specialized catheters.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device including a handle body having a proximal end and a distal end, a spool on the handle body and to move between the distal end and the proximal end of the handle body, a catheter extending from the distal end of the handle body, an actuator attached to the spool and extending through the catheter, such that the actuator is removably connected to one or more dispensable devices at a distal end of the catheter, a spool controller to prevent connection with another of the dispensable devices to the actuator after a predetermined number of dispensable devices have been dispensed by the medical device.