Single-operator Laparoscope Auxiliary Device with Foot Controller
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Solution Overview
Problem
In laparoscopic surgery, assistants holding the laparoscope for extended periods often experience fatigue, leading to tremors and paralysis, which can affect the surgical operation's fluency and stability, and may result in accidental injuries due to miscommunication with the surgeon.
Innovation Solution
A single-operator laparoscope auxiliary operating device with universal rotating mechanisms, a direction controlling mechanism, a moving mechanism, and a foot controller, allowing the surgeon to control the laparoscope's position and orientation without assistance, reducing the risk of interference and improving surgical precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If an assistant holds the laparoscope for extended periods, then the surgical operation can proceed with laparoscopic minimally invasive surgery, but the assistant experiences fatigue leading to tremors and paralysis, affecting surgical fluency and stability
Solution Approach 1:
The surgeon controls the laparoscope themselves using foot pedals, eliminating the need for an assistant. The system serves itself by integrating the control functions directly into the surgical device, allowing the operator to maintain both surgical instrument control and laparoscope positioning without human fatigue or tremor affecting stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Foot pedals serve as an intermediary control mechanism between the surgeon's intent and the laparoscope movements. This mediator allows the surgeon to control the laparoscope without direct hand contact, eliminating hand tremors and fatigue while maintaining precise control through the foot-based interface.
2Ease of operation
If an assistant holds the laparoscope, then the surgeon can perform the surgical operation, but miscommunication between assistant and surgeon may cause accidental injuries
Solution Approach 1:
The surgeon directly controls the laparoscope through foot pedals, eliminating the need for assistant-surgeon communication. The system removes the communication interface entirely, allowing the surgeon to independently adjust the laparoscope position and angle without relying on another person's understanding or response, thereby eliminating miscommunication-related injury risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The assistant role is completely extracted from the surgical system. By removing the human assistant and replacing their function with an automated foot-pedal controlled mechanism, the source of communication errors and coordination failures is eliminated, leaving only the surgeon's direct control over all surgical instruments.
3Device complexity
If the surgeon uses foot pedals to control the laparoscope, then the need for an assistant is eliminated, but the device structure becomes more complex with multiple mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The foot pedal assembly serves multiple functions: controlling the position of the laparoscope, adjusting its angle, and managing the universal rotating mechanisms. By consolidating these control functions into a single foot pedal interface, the system reduces the number of separate control mechanisms while maintaining comprehensive laparoscope control capability, thereby improving surgical efficiency without proportionally increasing device complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A single-operator laparoscope auxiliary operating device is provided, including a laparoscope and universal rotating mechanisms, wherein two universal rotating mechanisms are provided on the laparoscope, each of the universal rotating mechanisms includes a ball sleeve and a sleeve plate, the ball sleeve is slidably sleeved on the laparoscope, the sleeve plate is sleeved in a middle of the ball sleeve, and the ball sleeve is universally rotatable on the sleeve plate; a direction controlling mechanism; a moving mechanism; a supporting mechanism; a connecting frame, one end of the connecting frame is fixedly connected to the sleeve plate close to the lens of the laparoscope, and another end of the connecting frame is fixedly connected to the supporting mechanism; and a foot controller connected to the direction controlling mechanism and the moving mechanism.