Folding Cap Mechanism for Minimizing Incision Size in Surgical Staplers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical staplers require large incisions for anvil insertion and removal, which reduces the tissue available for stapling and increases the risk of misfiring staples and leakage, especially during anastomosis procedures.
Innovation Solution
An applicator instrument with a folding cap mechanism that collapses to a small diameter, allowing for insertion and removal through small orifices, featuring a plurality of extension arms with staple clinch buckets that can be extended or retracted to facilitate stapling and minimize tissue trauma.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional anvil is used for stapling, then the stapling function is achieved, but a large incision is required for insertion and removal which reduces available tissue and increases risk of misfiring
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil is designed with collapsible arms that can transition between an extended configuration during stapling and a collapsed configuration for insertion and removal. This dynamic transformation allows the anvil to pass through small incisions while maintaining full functionality during the stapling operation, thereby resolving the contradiction between requiring a large opening for staple accuracy and minimizing incision size.
Solution Approach 2:
The collapsible anvil structure allows the arms to fold inward and nest within the body of the applicator instrument during insertion and removal phases. This nesting capability enables the anvil to traverse through small incisions without requiring large openings, while the arms can be extended when needed for stapling, thus resolving the contradiction between incision size and staple firing accuracy.
2Ease of operation
If a large incision is made for anvil insertion, then the anvil can be easily inserted, but less tissue is available for staples to set and the risk of leakage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collapsible anvil allows for easy insertion through small incisions by collapsing the arms during the insertion phase, then extending the arms during the stapling phase to provide adequate tissue approximation. This dynamic behavior maintains both ease of operation for insertion and reliability for creating a secure anastomotic seal, resolving the contradiction between insertion ease and seal integrity.
3Length of moving object
If the anvil is made collapsible to reduce incision size, then smaller openings are available for stapling, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil is segmented into multiple collapsible arms that can independently fold and extend. This segmentation allows the complex function of size transformation to be distributed across simpler modular components, making the overall device more manageable and easier to manufacture despite the added functionality. The segmented structure resolves the contradiction by breaking down the complex collapse mechanism into manageable segments.
Data Source
AI summary
An applicator instrument has a body portion that has at least one trigger mechanism and a rod extending from the body portion. The applicator instrument has a folding cap mechanism installed or inserted into an end of the rod. The folding cap mechanism has a plurality of extension arms, each of which have a staple clinch bucket. The extension arms are coupled to a trigger of the triggers and are movable between a collapsed position and an extended position by the trigger.