Heated Pursing Cable Excision for Intact Minimally Invasive Biopsy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current breast biopsy methods, such as open surgical biopsies and needle biopsies, face challenges including high invasiveness, risk of false-negative results, excessive bleeding, and limited pathological information due to electrosurgical cutting methods that can cause unintended thermal damage and discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive tissue retrieval system using a tubular delivery cannula with a resistively heated cutting and pursing cable, where electrical current is confined to only the tissue contact areas to achieve thermal cutting while minimizing overheating and nerve stimulation, allowing for precise excision of tissue with reduced trauma.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If electrosurgical cutting methods are used for tissue excision, then cutting efficiency is improved, but unintended thermal damage and patient discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by confining electrical current flow exclusively to the cable portion in direct contact with tissue. The insulative coating on the cable ensures that current is delivered only at the intended cutting site, creating localized thermal effect precisely where needed without affecting surrounding areas. This resolves the contradiction by maintaining cutting efficiency through controlled local heating while eliminating harmful thermal damage to adjacent tissues and nerves.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive techniques are used, then patient trauma is reduced, but tissue excision precision may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical cutting systems with a resistively heated cable system. Instead of using large mechanical blades or electrosurgical arcs that require larger incisions and produce more trauma, the invention uses controlled resistive heating of a thin cable to cut tissue. This substitution enables minimally invasive access while maintaining precise cutting capability, as the heated cable can be positioned accurately within the tissue cavity to excise defined volumes without requiring large incisions or extensive tissue manipulation.
3Reliability
If larger tissue volumes are removed for biopsy, then diagnostic accuracy is improved, but cosmetic appearance and recovery time worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical excision methods with resistive heating, enabling precise removal of defined tissue volumes through a small access incision. The heated cable can coagulate vessels as it cuts, reducing bleeding and allowing for complete excision of tumor volumes with margins without requiring large incisions. This achieves diagnostic accuracy through adequate tissue sampling while minimizing cosmetic impact and facilitating faster recovery compared to open surgical excision.
4Speed
If electrosurgical cutting is used, then cutting speed is improved, but excessive bleeding and nerve stimulation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by restricting current flow to the cable-tissue interface only. The insulative coating ensures that electrical energy is converted to heat exclusively at the cutting point, providing rapid cutting through localized thermal effect. Simultaneously, this localization prevents current from stimulating nerves or causing excessive bleeding at distant sites, as the energy is confined to the immediate cutting zone where it coagulates vessels and severs tissue cleanly.
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
Enables the precise and minimally invasive excision of defined tissue volumes with reduced trauma, minimizing necrosis and discomfort, and providing intact tissue samples for pathological examination.
Implementation Method 1
resistively heated cutting and pursing cable, where electrical current is confined to only the tissue contact areas to achieve thermal cutting
Data Source
AI summary
The recovery of an intact volume of tissue proceeds with a delivery cannula distal end positioned in confronting adjacency with the volume of tissue to be recovered. A tissue cutting and capture assembly formed of a plurality of metal leafs is deployed from the distal end of the delivery cannula. The tips of these leafs carry a pursing cable assembly, which is resistively heated by the passage of electrical current through the cable, attaining temperature level sufficient to thermally cut around and circumscribe the tissue volume. These pursing cables are tensioned to complete the envelopment of the tissue volumes by drawing the leaf tips together. An essential attribute of the disclosed apparatus is the confinement of the path of electrical conduction of constant current required to achieve tissue cutting to only those portions of the deploying and retracting resistively heated portion of the electrically conductive cutting and pursing cable that are in direct contact with tissue.