Medical Snare Loop Direction Control Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical snares are difficult to rotate in a desired direction, increasing the burden on surgeons and prolonging surgical procedures for polyp removal, as they require rotating the entire snare to align the loop with the polyp growth direction.
Innovation Solution
A medical snare design where a wheel is coupled to an auxiliary pusher connected to a wire, allowing the loop's expansion direction to be easily rotated by wire rotation alone, with engaging faces and locking protrusions to maintain the new direction and prevent sliding or restoration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the entire polypectomy snare is rotated to align the loop with the polyp growth direction, then the loop can be inserted to the correct spot, but the surgeon cannot smoothly rotate the loop in the desired direction and the burden on the wrist is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The snare is divided into two independent rotational components: the entire snare assembly can rotate as one unit, and the loop wire can rotate independently relative to the pusher through the wheel mechanism. This segmentation allows the loop orientation to be adjusted separately from the snare position, enabling smooth rotation in desired directions without burdening the surgeon's wrist.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the wheel is allowed to rotate freely, then the loop expansion direction can be easily switched, but the wheel cannot be fixed to maintain the rotated position
Solution Approach 1:
The wheel is designed with dynamic characteristics, allowing it to rotate freely for adjusting the loop expansion direction. When rotation is needed, the wheel can be turned to switch the loop direction. When position fixation is needed, the locking protrusion engages with the locking groove to prevent further rotation, maintaining the selected orientation. This dynamic design provides both adaptability and stability as needed.
3Stability of the object's composition
If locking protrusions are added to fix the wheel position, then the loop expansion direction can be maintained, but the structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
A locking protrusion is added to the wheel, which engages with a corresponding locking groove on the pusher to fix the wheel's rotational position. This simple intermediary element provides an effective locking mechanism that maintains the loop expansion direction without significantly increasing the overall structural complexity of the device.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided a medical snare in which the expansion direction of a loop is easily rotated in an arbitrary direction in which a removable target has grown, the removable target is easily inserted into the loop so as to allow a surgical procedure to be easily performed to reduce a time required for the surgical procedure and burdens of a patient and a surgeon, and the free rotation of a wheel is prevented to be able to fix the expansion direction of the loop. Accordingly, only the wheel can be easily rotated to switch the expansion direction of the loop without rotating the entire medical snare.