Medical Endodevice Anchoring for Precise, Stable Tissue Intervention

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing minimally invasive medical devices face challenges in achieving precise localization of the endoscope within the body lumen due to lower precision in positioning, which can compromise the accuracy of interventions, and are susceptible to external movements affecting the intervention quality and precision.

Innovation Solution

A medical endodevice with an elongated liaising structure and a positioning unit that includes an anchoring formation for fixing to the body tissue and a moving formation to precisely manipulate the intervention tool, allowing for precise and robust minimal invasive interventions without the need for robotic control.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If manual operation or robotic control is used to forward the endoscope to the target location, then the intervention can be performed minimally invasively, but the precision of locating the endoscope face inside the body lumen is lower than the precision of the intervention tool

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of locating endoscope faceVSAvoidprecision of intervention tool
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The device is segmented into two independent functional components: the endoscope for navigation and the intervention tool for precise manipulation. The positioning unit with anchoring and moving formations separates the localization function from the intervention function, allowing each to optimize for its specific purpose without compromising the other.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The positioning unit acts as an intermediary between the endoscope and the intervention tool. It anchors to the body tissue and provides a stable reference frame, then uses the moving formation to precisely position the intervention tool relative to the target tissue, bridging the precision gap between navigation and intervention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If the endoscope is manually operated outside the body, then the device is easy to control, but movements of the part outside the body affect the tool inside the body during intervention

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveease of controlling endoscopeVSAvoidstability of tool position inside body
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The positioning unit is extracted from the endoscope and anchored independently to the body tissue. This separation allows the endoscope to be manipulated externally for navigation while the positioning unit remains fixed to the target tissue, isolating the intervention tool from external movements and maintaining stable positioning during intervention.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

3Measurement precision

If imaging procedures such as computer tomography are used to precisely localize the endoscope, then the precision of locating the endoscope face increases, but the procedure becomes cumbersome and comparably slow

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveprecision of localizing endoscope faceVSAvoidtime for imaging procedure
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The positioning unit performs self-localization by anchoring directly to the target tissue and providing a stable reference frame. This eliminates the need for external imaging procedures like computer tomography, as the positioning unit's anchored state itself serves as the localization reference, achieving precise positioning without time-consuming imaging steps.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3644819B1Medical endodevice
Publication Date: 2025.07.30 UNIVERSITY OF BASEL
  • EP3644819B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3644819B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3644819B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

A medical endodevice (1) for an intervention inside a human or animal body comprises an elongated liaising structure (2) having a distal end arrangeable inside a body of the human or animal being and a proximal end arrangeable outside the body while the distal end is inside the body. The endodevice has an intervention tool arranged to manipulate a target tissue (51) inside the human or animal body. The intervention tool is arranged at the distal end (23) of the liaising structure (2). The endodevice (1) further comprises a positioning unit (3) having a moving formation (32) arranged to dislocate the intervention tool relative to the target tissue (51), and an anchoring formation arranged to fix the moving formation (32) to a fixing tissue (51) inside the human or animal body such that the target tissue (51) is positioned in a workspace of the intervention tool.