Flexible Tissue Modification Device for Minimally Invasive Spinal Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive surgical techniques for modifying tissue, such as those used in spinal stenosis treatment, face challenges like limited access and damage to non-target tissues due to the need for wide incisions and extensive muscle dissection, leading to instability and long-term morbidity.
Innovation Solution
A flexible tissue modification device with a rigid proximal and flexible distal portion, equipped with tissue modifying members like blades or wire saws, that can be advanced through small incisions to modify spinal or other tissues without removing significant bone, allowing for precise targeting and minimization of tissue damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If wide incisions and extensive muscle dissection are used to access spinal tissue, then adequate exposure and access to target tissue is achieved, but damage to non-target tissues increases and spinal stability is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a flexible catheter with a distal portion that can be advanced through small incisions and navigated through tissue planes to reach the target area. The flexible nature allows the device to conform to anatomical structures and access spinal tissue through minimally invasive percutaneous or endoscopic approaches, avoiding wide incisions and extensive muscle dissection while preventing damage to non-target tissues.
2Ease of operation
If wide incisions and extensive muscle dissection are used to access spinal tissue, then adequate exposure and access to target tissue is achieved, but spinal instability and long-term morbidity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible catheter design enables minimally invasive access through small incisions, preserving muscle and ligamentous structures that maintain spinal stability. The device can be introduced percutaneously or through endoscopic portals, avoiding the need for wide incisions and extensive dissection that would compromise spinal structural integrity and lead to long-term morbidity.
3Ease of operation
If small-diameter tools are used in confined spaces with limited visualization, then minimally invasive access is achieved, but the ability to cut or contour bone and ligamentous tissue is severely limited
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates an intermediary mechanism where the flexible catheter serves as a delivery system for tissue-modifying instruments. The catheter can be advanced through small incisions to reach confined spinal spaces, and once positioned, it delivers cutting or contouring instruments (such as burrs, blades, or laser probes) that enable effective modification of bone and ligamentous tissue despite the minimally invasive approach and limited visualization.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for modifying tissue in a patient may include: an elongate body having a rigid proximal portion and a flexible distal portion having first and second major surfaces; a proximal handle coupled with the proximal portion of the body; one or more tissue modifying members disposed along the first major surface of the distal portion of the body; a guidewire coupled with and extending from the distal portion of the body; and a distal handle removably couplable with the guidewire outside the patient.