Malleable Guide Rail Bending Tool for Medical Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical instruments lack a precise and efficient method to bend and straighten malleable guides for accessing various anatomical passageways, such as those in the ear, nose, and throat, which limits their ability to achieve desired bend angles and positions within the body.
Innovation Solution
A bending tool comprising a base, actuator, and clamp member that allows for the precise bending and straightening of malleable guide rails by pivoting the actuator relative to the base while the guide rail is clamped, enabling the formation of desired bend angles at specific positions along the guide rail.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a malleable guide rail is used to access different anatomical passageways, then the adaptability of the medical instrument is improved, but the difficulty of precisely bending and straightening the guide rail increases
Solution Approach 1:
The bending tool allows the guide rail to be pre-bent to a specific angle and configuration before insertion into the patient's body. The clamp member secures the guide rail at the desired bend angle, and the actuator maintains this preliminary shape during the procedure. This eliminates the need to bend the guide rail inside the body, significantly reducing operational difficulty while maintaining adaptability to access different anatomical passageways.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the guide rail is bent inside the patient's body, then adaptability is improved, but the precision of achieving desired bend angles deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The bending tool enables precise bend angle formation outside the body before insertion. The clamp member and actuator work together to create accurate, reproducible bend angles at specific positions along the guide rail, ensuring manufacturing-level precision is achieved in the clinical setting without requiring complex intra-body manipulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The manual, imprecise method of bending the guide rail inside the body is replaced by a controlled mechanical bending system. The actuator provides consistent, measurable force to achieve precise bend angles, while the clamp member holds the guide rail steady during bending, eliminating the variability and imprecision of manual intra-body bending.
3Manufacturing precision
If a fixed guide rail is used, then the precision of the instrument structure is improved, but the adaptability to different anatomical locations deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The guide rail is divided into functional segments: a rigid distal portion that maintains structural precision for instrument support, and a malleable proximal portion that can be bent to adapt to different anatomical passageways. This segmentation allows the instrument to maintain structural integrity while gaining the flexibility needed to reach various target locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide rail transitions from a static, fixed structure to a dynamic, adjustable configuration. The malleable portion can be bent to different angles and positions using the bending tool, allowing the same instrument to adapt to multiple anatomical pathways while the rigid distal portion maintains the precision required for accurate instrument delivery.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus includes a base, an actuator, and a clamp member. The actuator is pivotably coupled with the base. The clamp member is operable to selectively clamp a malleable guide rail relative to the base. The guide rail is configured to fit in an anatomical passageway in a head of a patient. The actuator is operable to pivot relative to the base to thereby bend the guide rail while the guide rail is clamped by the clamp member.