Articulating Knife Actuator for 360° Shaft Rotation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electrosurgical instruments lack the ability to rotate their shaft continuously while allowing the knife blade to be operated effectively, limiting the versatility and precision of vessel sealing and cutting procedures.
Innovation Solution
A knife driving assembly that allows the knife to advance and retract along the jaws' pathway regardless of the shaft's rotational position, utilizing a lever, bearing sleeve, and drive shaft mechanism to enable 360-degree rotation of the shaft without compromising the knife's operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the shaft is allowed to rotate continuously through 360 degrees, then the versatility and positioning flexibility of the instrument is improved, but the ability to operate the knife blade effectively is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The knife actuator is segmented into multiple functional components: a lever for user input, a bearing cup for rotational accommodation, a drive shaft for linear force transmission, and a knife for cutting. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, enabling shaft rotation while maintaining knife operability.
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing cup acts as an intermediary element between the rotating shaft and the linear knife actuation mechanism. It accommodates the rotational movement of the shaft while allowing the drive shaft to transmit linear forcing motion to the knife, effectively decoupling the rotational and linear motions.
2Device complexity
If a conventional knife driving mechanism is used, then the structure is simpler, but the shaft cannot rotate continuously while maintaining knife operation
Solution Approach 1:
The mechanism transitions from a static, fixed-orientation knife drive to a dynamic system where the bearing cup accommodates continuous shaft rotation. The drive shaft can move linearly within the bearing cup regardless of the shaft's rotational position, enabling dynamic adaptation to any angular orientation while maintaining knife actuation capability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A knife driving assembly that can advance and retract a knife along a knife blade pathway defined by the jaws of the surgical instrument regardless of continuous rotation of the shaft and jaws. The assembly includes a housing having a shaft extending along a longitudinal axis and supporting to a pair of jaws that define a knife pathway and a lever pivotally mounted to housing and extending into the housing. A knife actuator is coupled to the lever at a first end and to a bearing sleeve at a second end. A drive shaft is secured to the bearing sleeve and extends within the shaft to move a knife along the knife pathway in response to movement of the bearing sleeve. As a result, the main shaft, and the drive shaft, may be rotated through 360 degrees with movement of lever capable of moving the knife.