Expandable Tissue Dilator Single-Pass Spinal Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dilators used in minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as those for spinal access, often cause muscle fiber severance and nerve root disruption due to multiple passes through tissue, leading to increased trauma and procedural time.
Innovation Solution
An expandable tissue dilator with a housing, shaft, and an expandable member, such as a balloon, that allows for single-pass dilation, reducing the likelihood of nerve or muscle tissue trauma and shortening procedure time by expanding radially to create a working channel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional blunt dilators are used in multiple passes to dilate tissue, then tissue dilation is achieved, but muscle fiber severance and nerve root disruption occur
Solution Approach 1:
The dilator is segmented into multiple functional components: a rigid shaft for penetration, an expandable member for dilation, and a protective covering. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while minimizing harm to surrounding tissues.
Solution Approach 2:
The dilator performs preliminary penetration through the shaft, followed by controlled expansion of the expandable member. This preliminary action creates a controlled dilation pathway that avoids random tissue damage associated with multiple insertion passes.
Solution Approach 3:
The dilator utilizes parameter changes by transitioning from a compressed state to an expanded state. The expandable member changes its volume and diameter parameters to create the dilation effect, allowing single-pass tissue separation without repeated mechanical trauma.
2Reliability
If multiple dilators are installed in sequence to dilate soft tissues, then tissue access is achieved, but procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges the functions of multiple separate dilators into a single integrated device. The combine shaft, expandable member, and protective covering in one unit allows the surgeon to perform dilation in a single procedural step rather than sequentially with multiple instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The dilator is designed as a universal device that performs both penetration (via the shaft) and dilation (via the expandable member) functions. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate instruments for each function, reducing the number of procedural steps and overall time.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a single-pass dilation is performed with an expandable dilator, then tissue trauma is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable member is nested within the protective covering and shaft during insertion. This nested configuration allows the complex expandable mechanism to be contained within a simple, easy-to-insert shaft structure, minimizing the apparent complexity while enabling single-pass dilation.
Solution Approach 2:
The protective covering acts as a flexible shell that encloses the expandable member. This thin film structure protects the expandable mechanism during insertion while allowing controlled expansion at the target site, simplifying the overall device architecture.
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 expandable dilator minimizes tissue trauma and reduces procedural time by enabling a single-pass dilation, reducing the risk of nerve or muscle impingement and allowing for a smooth transition for a retractor, thereby improving access to spinal sites with less damage.
Implementation Method 1
An expandable member attached to the housing is expandable around a portion of the shaft to dilate the pierced tissue
Data Source
AI summary
An expandable tissue dilator for dilating tissue around a spinal column includes a housing and a shaft at least partially positioned distally of the housing and adapted to pierce a tissue around the spinal column. An expandable member attached to the housing expands around a portion of the shaft to dilate the pierced tissue in a single-pass dilation resulting in a reduction of any traumatic impingement of nerves or muscle tissue and reduction in procedure time.