Flexible Ear Endoscope With Integrated Suction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current endoscopes used in middle ear surgery are cumbersome, causing ergonomic imbalances and limiting the surgeon's ability to perform procedures effectively due to their length, weight, and design, which prevents simultaneous use of visualization and suction tools.
Innovation Solution
A compact, handheld ear endoscope system that integrates a visualization component and a suction device, allowing for one-handed operation with a flexible and adjustable design that enables the surgeon to rest their hand on the patient's head, facilitating better control and stability during surgery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a standard endoscope with a long shaft is used for visualization, then the surgeon can visualize the middle ear, but the surgeon's hand must be suspended in the air unsupported, causing ergonomic imbalance and difficulty in stabilizing the endoscope
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope is divided into a long flexible shaft and a separate handle component. The flexible shaft can be advanced into the ear canal while the handle remains outside, allowing the surgeon to rest their hand on the patient's head for support rather than suspending it in air.
Solution Approach 2:
The endoscope shaft is made flexible rather than rigid, allowing it to bend and navigate the ear canal anatomy. This flexibility enables the shaft to reach the target area while the handle remains in a comfortable, supported position for the surgeon.
2Ease of operation
If a standard endoscope with a long shaft is used for visualization, then the surgeon can visualize the middle ear, but holding the heavy endoscope suspended over the patient's head leads to arm and hand fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope system separates the heavy visualization components (camera, light source, processor) from the surgical field into a base unit, while only the lightweight flexible shaft needs to be maneuvered into the ear. This segmentation reduces the weight the surgeon must support.
Solution Approach 2:
A flexible coupling mechanism connects the handle to the long shaft, allowing the heavy components to remain stationary at the base while transmitting only minimal weight and control forces to the surgeon's hand through the flexible connection.
3Ease of operation
If the surgeon holds the endoscope in one hand, then visualization is achieved, but that hand is no longer free to hold a suction device or surgical tool
Solution Approach 1:
The suction device and surgical tools are integrated with the endoscope shaft through couplers that allow them to be advanced through the same flexible shaft. This merging enables the surgeon to hold only the endoscope handle while simultaneously using suction and surgical tools through the shaft.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible shaft serves multiple functions: it provides the visual pathway for the camera, acts as a conduit for suction, and serves as a guide for surgical tools. This multi-functionality allows a single handheld device to perform visualization and multiple surgical functions simultaneously.
4Adaptability or versatility
If a standard endoscope with a straight shaft is used, then the endoscope can be positioned in a direct line, but it blocks the path of vision of the microscope, making it impossible to use both endoscope and microscope in the same procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The endoscope shaft is designed with a flexible, curved configuration rather than a straight line. This curvature allows the shaft to bend around the microscope's optical path, enabling both the endoscope and microscope to be used simultaneously without blocking each other's view.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexible shaft allows the endoscope to access the ear canal from a different spatial dimension and angle, routing the shaft through a curved path that does not intersect with the straight-line optical path of the microscope, thus avoiding visual obstruction.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for visualizing and providing suction for a surgical procedure in an ear includes a handle, a main shaft extending from the handle, an imaging sensor at a distal end of the main shaft, a light source at the distal end of the main shaft, a first suction tube extending along a proximal portion of a first side of the main shaft, a second suction tube extending along a proximal portion of a second side of the main shaft, and a first suction component. The first suction component includes a first suction shaft, a first thumb depress member coupled with a proximal end of the first suction shaft, a first spring disposed over a proximal portion of the first suction shaft, and a first suction tubing for connecting the first suction shaft or the first thumb depress member with the handle.