Modular Surgical Retractor With Integrated LED Illumination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical retractors often require separate light sources, which can be cumbersome and expensive, and may not provide adequate illumination where needed, while also facing challenges with structural integrity during tissue retraction.
Innovation Solution
A modular surgical retractor design featuring a handle with a built-in light source and a blade attachment system that ensures robust structural integrity and adjustable illumination, allowing for easy attachment and detachment of different blades and light alignment along the blade.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If a fiber optic light guide is loaded to the retractor body, then illumination is provided more directly over and along the blade face, but the cost increases and the surgeon's hand mobility is negatively affected
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor is divided into modular components: a handle assembly containing the light source and a separate blade that can be attached or detached. This segmentation eliminates the need for integrated fiber optic light guides while providing direct LED illumination from the handle, reducing cost and improving hand mobility.
Solution Approach 2:
The light source (LED) is merged with the handle assembly, combining illumination functionality with the structural support element. This integration provides direct illumination without requiring separate fiber optic components, achieving the lighting benefit while avoiding the complexity and cost of fiber optic integration.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the blade is made removable and attachable to the handle, then versatility is improved, but structural integrity may be compromised during tissue retraction
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor blade is designed as a separate, removable component that can be attached to or detached from the handle assembly. This segmentation enables versatility by allowing different blades to be used for different procedures while maintaining structural integrity through a robust attachment mechanism featuring complementary mating surfaces and engagement features.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple differently-configured retractors are kept available, then various surgical procedure needs are met, but device complexity and inventory requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
A universal handle assembly is designed with standardized attachment features that can accommodate multiple different blade configurations. This multi-functionality allows a single handle to serve various surgical procedures by simply changing the blade, eliminating the need to maintain multiple complete retractor instruments in inventory.
Solution Approach 2:
By segmenting the retractor into a universal handle and interchangeable blades, the system reduces inventory complexity. Instead of storing multiple complete retractors, the surgical team only needs to store one handle assembly and a selection of specialized blades, simplifying inventory management while maintaining procedure adaptability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A modular surgical retractor including a handle and a blade. The handle includes a base and a neck. The neck projects from an end of the base to a tail region. The blade includes a head section and a blade member. The head section includes opposing side walls and a floor combining to define a slot sized to receive the neck. The blade member projects from the head section. The blade is removably attached to the handle. In an attached state, an attachment face of each side wall contacts the end of the base, and the floor contacts the tail region. In some embodiments, a light source, such as an LED, is disposed within the neck and arranged to emit light along a face of the blade member. Two or more additional blades are provided, each additional blade including the head section and a differently configured blade member.