Microforceps With Progressive Teeth For Hard Tissue Biopsy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current biopsy methods, such as sampling cyst fluid for pancreatic cysts, face challenges in accurately detecting malignancy due to inadequate tissue sampling and difficulty in piercing harder tissue walls, leading to inefficient and inaccurate diagnoses.
Innovation Solution
A microforceps apparatus deployable through a needle, featuring jaws with progressively-sized teeth for enhanced grasping and tearing strength, allowing for efficient tissue sampling from harder tissues like the pancreas or lymph nodes, and a suction mechanism for cytological sampling post-histological sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional forceps are used to biopsy pancreatic tissue, then the device can grasp soft tissue, but it cannot effectively pierce the hard outer wall of the pancreas without causing unwarranted damage
Solution Approach 1:
The forceps are nested within a needle shaft, allowing the distal end of the forceps to extend through the needle tip. This nested configuration enables the forceps to be delivered through a narrow gauge needle (e.g., 19-gauge) that can safely pierce the pancreatic wall, while the forceps themselves remain protected until deployment, preventing unwarranted tissue damage during insertion.
2Ease of operation
If needle biopsies are used to sample pancreatic tissue, then the needle can safely pierce the outer wall, but it cannot obtain sufficient tissue sample and is difficult to precisely control
Solution Approach 1:
The forceps are designed with movable jaws that can open and close dynamically. The proximal end of the forceps is rotatably coupled to the needle shaft, allowing the jaws to be actuated from the proximal end to open and close at the distal end. This dynamic capability enables precise control of the tissue grasping action while maintaining the safety advantage of needle delivery, and allows the jaws to close firmly around tissue to obtain sufficient sample quantity.
3Quantity of substance
If multiple needle passes are performed to obtain sufficient tissue sample, then adequate sample quantity can be achieved, but procedure time increases and patient risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The forceps are pre-loaded within the needle in a ready-to-use configuration. Once the needle is inserted into the target tissue, the forceps can be immediately deployed and actuated to grasp tissue without requiring withdrawal and reinsertion. This preliminary preparation of the forceps within the needle allows sufficient tissue sampling to be achieved in a single pass, reducing both procedure time and patient risk associated with multiple needle passes.
4Strength
If traditional forceps are used, then the device structure can be simple, but it cannot be deployed through a narrow needle while maintaining grasping strength
Solution Approach 1:
The forceps mechanism is merged with the needle shaft structure. The needle shaft serves dual functions as both the delivery vehicle and the actuation mechanism. The proximal end of the forceps is rotatably coupled to the needle shaft, and the jaw linkage integrates with the needle structure, allowing the simple needle shaft to control the complex motion of opening and closing the jaws at the distal end. This merging maintains grasping strength while minimizing device complexity.
Data Source
Figure 1a~1b
Figure 2
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AI summary
A forceps device includes forceps deployable through a needle. In one embodiment, both jaws of the forceps are movable with respect to each other, and their movement is controlled by a box slider. In another embodiment, one jaw is fixed and the other jaw is movable. In one embodiment the jaws include teeth that increase in length from the proximal end of the jaws to the distal end of the jaws. In a further embodiment, suction may be achieved through the needle when the forceps are removed.