Floating Staple Cartridge for Variable Tissue Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical stapling devices often fail to provide effective hemostasis when tissue thickness varies beyond a defined range, leading to ineffective staple deployment.
Innovation Solution
A surgical stapling device with a floating staple cartridge and compression strips/pads that allow the staple cartridge to adjust to tissues of different thicknesses by moving relative to the anvil assembly, ensuring proper staple deformation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the tissue contact surfaces are fixed in position, then the device structure is simple, but the device cannot accommodate tissues of different thicknesses
Solution Approach 1:
The staple cartridge is made movable relative to the anvil assembly through a floating mechanism, allowing the tissue contact surface to dynamically adjust its position based on tissue thickness. This dynamic adjustment enables the device to accommodate varying tissue thicknesses while maintaining proper staple deformation geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
A compression pad is introduced as an intermediary element between the staple cartridge and the anvil assembly. This compression pad facilitates the floating mechanism by allowing controlled movement and compression, enabling the staple cartridge to adjust to different tissue thicknesses while maintaining structural integrity.
2Reliability
If the tissue gap is fixed for a given thickness range, then the manufacturing precision is improved, but the reliability decreases when tissue thickness varies
Solution Approach 1:
The tissue gap is transformed from a fixed dimension to a dynamic dimension that can adjust based on tissue thickness. The floating staple cartridge mechanism allows the tissue contact surfaces to maintain the proper gap distance regardless of the actual tissue thickness, ensuring reliable hemostasis across varying tissue conditions.
3Manufacturing precision
If the staple cartridge is fixed relative to the anvil, then the device complexity is reduced, but the staple deformation quality deteriorates for thick or thin tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The staple cartridge is designed to float relative to the anvil assembly, enabling dynamic positioning that maintains optimal staple deformation geometry. This floating mechanism allows the staple cartridge to adjust its position automatically based on tissue thickness, ensuring consistent deformation quality without requiring complex active control systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The floating mechanism allows the staple cartridge to self-adjust its position relative to the anvil based on the tissue thickness. The compression pad and mechanical design enable automatic positioning that maintains proper staple deformation without requiring external control or complex actuation systems.
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 device ensures effective hemostasis across a wider range of tissue thicknesses by accommodating variations in tissue thickness through the movement of the staple cartridge, maintaining optimal staple deformation.
Implementation Method 1
A compression pad is positioned between the bottom wall of the cartridge channel and the staple cartridge
Implementation Method 2
A compression strip is supported in each of the elongated slots defined in the second end of the side walls of the cartridge channel
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical stapling device includes tool assembly having an anvil assembly and a cartridge assembly including a cartridge channel and a staple cartridge supported within the cartridge channel. The cartridge channel has a pair of spaced sidewalls and a bottom wall. The cartridge assembly includes compression strips that are supported on upper edges of the side walls and are positioned to support the staple cartridge. In embodiments, each of the compression strips includes a connecting portion and the upper edge of each of the side walls defines a slot that is configured to receive the connecting portion of a respective compression strip to secure the compression strip to the side wall of the cartridge channel. In some embodiments, the tool assembly also includes a compressible pad that is supported on the bottom wall of the cartridge channel between the bottom of the cartridge channel and the staple cartridge.