Fluid-Fillable Buttress for Surgical Stapler Tissue Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical stapling instruments lack an effective mechanism to simultaneously sever and buttress tissue during stapling, leading to potential bleeding and tissue instability post-procedure.
Innovation Solution
A surgical cutter with a distal end effector featuring an anvil and lower jaw, accompanied by a fluid-filled buttress comprising two elastic members that are compressed and severed contemporaneously with tissue, releasing pressurized adhesive to enhance tissue sealing and stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional surgical stapling instruments are used to sever tissue, then tissue cutting is achieved, but tissue bleeding and instability occur post-procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The buttress material is pre-positioned between the anvil and lower jaw before tissue severing occurs. This preliminary placement ensures that the tissue cutting surface is prepared in advance with supportive material that will immediately address bleeding and instability upon cutting, preventing these harmful effects rather than addressing them after they occur.
Solution Approach 2:
The buttress material serves as an intermediary substance between the cutting edge and the tissue, and between the severed tissue edges. This intermediate material provides mechanical support to prevent instability and delivers hemostatic agents to control bleeding, mediating the interaction between the surgical instrument and the tissue to eliminate harmful effects.
2Reliability
If a fluid-filled buttress is compressed during stapling, then adhesive is released for tissue sealing, but the material may break or pop under pressure
Solution Approach 1:
The elastic modulus of the buttress material is specifically engineered to match the compression forces generated during stapling. By adjusting this physical parameter, the material becomes sufficiently compliant to allow controlled adhesive release through compression while maintaining enough structural integrity to prevent breaking or popping, thus resolving the contradiction between releasing adhesive and maintaining material stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The buttress material is constructed as a composite structure combining an elastic matrix with embedded adhesive reservoirs. This composite design allows the material to exhibit both the flexibility needed to compress without breaking and the functionality to release adhesive when pressurized, achieving both tissue sealing reliability and material integrity simultaneously.
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 solution ensures efficient tissue severing and stapling while providing immediate hemostasis and tissue stabilization, reducing post-procedure recovery time and complications.
Implementation Method 1
each fluid filled member (202, 204) comprises a generally elastic material configured to expand such that the pressurized region (208) is filled with most or all of the fluid in said fluid member (202, 204) without breaking or popping under pressure
Implementation Method 2
the pressure portions (208) are configured to urge the liquid through the respective compressive portions (206) once the buttress is severed
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
An apparatus comprises a surgical instrument and a buttress configured to hold a fluid adhesive. In some versions, the buttress contains a two-part fluid adhesive where two fluid materials form a fluid adhesive when combined. In some versions, the buttress is configured to be compressed by the surgical instrument thereby pressurizing a portion of the buttress. Thereafter, the buttress may be severed and the pressurized region may be operable to urge the fluid adhesive to a tissue site.