Flexible Tissue Retract Insert for Single Incision Laparoscopy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current laparoscopic instruments, especially those used in mini-laparoscopy, face limitations due to their small diameter, leading to performance issues such as weak suction-irrigation systems, poor durability, and limited video quality, which restrict their use to patients with favorable anatomy, and often result in undesirable cosmetic outcomes and wound complications.
Innovation Solution
A medical device comprising a flexible tissue retractor and an insert with instrument openings, allowing for the insertion of multiple instruments through a single incision, which can be adjusted in depth and size to accommodate different procedures, reducing the 'chopstick effect' and enhancing instrument maneuverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If mini-laparoscopic instruments with smaller diameter (2-3 mm) are used, then abdominal wall trauma is reduced and cosmesis is improved, but instrument performance deteriorates (weak suction-irrigation system, poor durability, decreased video quality)
Solution Approach 1:
The access device is divided into multiple components: a retractor with a passageway, an insert with instrument openings, and a seal assembly. This segmentation allows the system to accommodate multiple instruments through a single incision while maintaining individual instrument performance capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The insert is inserted into the retractor, and multiple instruments are inserted through the insert's openings. This nested configuration allows multiple instruments to pass through a single small incision without requiring multiple separate incisions, thereby reducing abdominal wall trauma while maintaining full instrument functionality
2Productivity
If multiple straight cannulas are placed in the umbilicus next to each other, then a single incision is achieved, but the 'chopstick effect' occurs reducing surgeon ability
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor is designed to be expandable from a compressed insertion state to an expanded operational state. This dynamic transformation allows the device to be inserted through a small incision and then expanded to provide adequate working space, eliminating the chopstick effect while maintaining single incision benefits
Solution Approach 2:
The retractor expands in the radial dimension after insertion, creating three-dimensional working space from a initially one-dimensional insertion path. This dimensional change allows multiple instruments to be manipulated effectively through a single incision without the chopstick effect
3Ease of operation
If standard laparoscopic cannulas are used, then instrument maneuverability is maintained, but multiple incisions are required compromising cosmesis
Solution Approach 1:
The access device serves multiple functions: it provides a single incision entry point, accommodates multiple instruments simultaneously, maintains instrument maneuverability through the insert design, and ensures sealing. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for multiple incisions while preserving all necessary surgical capabilities
Data Source
AI summary
Various devices and methods are provided with respect to inserting multiple surgical instruments through a single surgical access device. A medical device including a flexible tissue retractor and a releasable insert having multiple instrument openings is disclosed. The insert can be in the form of an insert assembly including multiple components. A method of using the insert is also described, and includes releasably positioning an insert having multiple instrument openings into the tissue retractor.