Flexible Sleeve for Ophthalmic Irrigator-Aspirator Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing ophthalmic irrigator-aspirator instruments face challenges in providing a safe and effective means to remove cortical material from the eye while minimizing tissue damage and ensuring a watertight connection during surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
A unitary, one-piece sleeve made of resilient material is designed to fit over the tip of an ophthalmic irrigator-aspirator instrument, providing a watertight connection and reducing the risk of tissue damage by being flexible enough to conform to the eye's shape without stretching or tearing, while maintaining rigidity to prevent collapse and protect the instrument from damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid tip is used to maintain structural integrity and prevent collapse, then the instrument can protect itself from damage, but it may cause tissue damage due to lack of flexibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible sleeve made of resilient material that covers the rigid tip. This flexible shell allows the instrument to maintain structural integrity from the rigid tip while preventing tissue damage through the compliance and flexibility of the sleeve material, which can conform to delicate ocular structures without causing mechanical injury.
Solution Approach 2:
The instrument combines two distinct materials with complementary properties: a rigid tip material providing structural strength and collapse prevention, and a flexible resilient material for the sleeve that provides tissue safety and conformability. This composite structure resolves the contradiction by allowing each material to perform its optimal function.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a resilient material is used to provide flexibility and conformability to the eye, then tissue damage is minimized, but the structure may collapse or lack rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible resilient sleeve is nested over the rigid tip structure. This nesting arrangement allows the softer, more compliant material to be positioned externally where it contacts tissue, while the rigid structural element remains internally supported, preventing collapse without directly contacting delicate tissues.
3Ease of manufacture
If a separate piece design is used for the sleeve and tip, then manufacturing and assembly are simpler, but the connection may not be watertight
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the sleeve and tip into a single unitary component constructed from multiple resilient materials. This integration eliminates the connection interface between separate pieces, ensuring a watertight structure while maintaining the benefits of combining rigid and flexible materials in a unified design that is manufactured as one piece.
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 sleeve ensures a secure, watertight fit and reduces the risk of tissue damage during ophthalmic procedures by being flexible enough to conform to the eye's shape without unduly stretching or tearing, while maintaining sufficient rigidity to prevent collapse and protect the instrument from damage.
Implementation Method 1
formed of a resilient material that allows the sleeve to be manually stretched onto the handpiece and tip
Data Source
AI summary
An ophthalmic irrigator-aspirator has a handpiece with aspiration and irrigation openings through its distal end. A tip component connects to the handpiece and has an aspiration cannula. A flexible sleeve has an annular hub for watertight connection to the handpiece or a base portion of the tip. The sleeve has an intermediate portion that forms a channel for an irrigation fluid along the exterior of the cannula to an irrigation port in the sleeve. The distal end portion of the sleeve is sized for a watertight connection over the distal portion of the cannula. Such distal end portion of the sleeve has an aspiration port in communication with the cannula aspiration port. The sleeve proximate, intermediate, and distal portions are integral with each other and are formed of a resilient material that allows the sleeve to be tightly fitted on the handpiece or tip base portion and the cannula.