Harmonic Vessel Sealer Circularity for Replaceable End Effectors
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
MIS instruments have a limited lifespan due to high-wear components, leading to environmental waste and inefficiency in resource utilization.
Innovation Solution
Implement a circularity system that allows for the disassembly and refurbishment of MIS instruments by replacing consumable components, extending their lifespan and reducing waste.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If MIS instruments are designed with high-wear components for durability, then reliability is improved, but the instrument lifespan is limited and environmental waste increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical instrument is divided into modular components: a reusable main body and replaceable consumable modules. Each consumable module contains high-wear components (blades, grasper tips, sealers) that can be independently replaced after a set number of uses, while the main instrument body remains intact for repeated use. This segmentation allows the reliable main body to be separated from the limited-life consumables.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a discard-and-recover model where consumable modules are discarded after reaching their operational lifespan, but the main instrument body is recovered, refurbished, and reused. The circularity system tracks usage cycles and automatically manages the replacement of consumables, ensuring the valuable main instrument is preserved while replacing only the worn components.
2Ease of manufacture
If MIS instruments are designed for single-use or limited uses, then ease of manufacture and sterility are improved, but resource utilization efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument is segmented into a manufactured main body and pre-packaged consumable modules. The main body undergoes rigorous manufacturing and sterilization processes once, while consumable modules are manufactured in batches and sterilized independently. This allows efficient mass production of consumables without repeating the complex main body manufacturing process for each use.
Solution Approach 2:
Consumable modules are pre-manufactured, pre-sterilized, and pre-packaged in sterile containers before the surgical procedure. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for time-consuming sterilization processes during surgery and ensures readiness for immediate use, improving both manufacturing efficiency and surgical workflow.
3Loss of substance
If consumable components are made replaceable for circularity, then environmental impact is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The replaceable consumable modules are designed as self-contained units with standardized interfaces that mechanically and electrically connect to the main body. Each module contains its own high-wear components and associated electronics, allowing simple plug-and-play replacement without complex disassembly or reconfiguration, thus limiting the increase in overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The consumable modules utilize standardized interfaces and mounting mechanisms that can accommodate different types of consumables (blades, graspers, sealers) on the same instrument body. This universality allows a single main instrument to support multiple consumable types, reducing the need for multiple specialized instruments and offsetting the complexity through multi-functionality.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of replacing a surgical tool consumable, the surgical tool including a drive housing containing an ultrasonic transducer, a shaft extending distally from the drive housing, an end effector coupled to the shaft and including a blade operatively coupled to the ultrasonic transducer and extending from drive housing within the shaft, and a clamp assembly that includes a clevis extending about the blade and a clamp arm pivotably coupled to the clevis such that axial movement of the clevis causes the clamp arm to move between open and closed positions, and a wrist interposing the shaft and the end effector. The method further including decoupling the blade from the ultrasonic transducer, removing the end effector from the wrist and proximal portions of the surgical tool, replacing the consumable of the surgical tool, and reconnecting the end effector to the wrist and the proximal portions of the surgical tool.