Motor-Powered Surgical Stapler with Variable Force Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical staplers require significant manual force for clamping and deploying surgical fasteners, leading to user fatigue and limited control over the stapling process, with existing motor-powered devices providing inadequate tactile feedback and limited user control.
Innovation Solution
A motor-powered surgical stapler with a drive assembly that includes a motor, controller, and variable resistor, allowing for adjustable force application and tactile feedback through a movable handle mechanism, enabling precise control over the stapling process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If manual force is used to clamp tissue and deploy surgical fasteners, then device complexity is reduced, but user fatigue increases and force control is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical manual operation system with an electromechanical system. A motor is integrated into the stapler to assist or fully replace manual force application, converting mechanical hand force into motor-driven mechanical force. This substitution reduces the physical effort required by the user while maintaining the mechanical function of tissue clamping and fastener deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a motor as an intermediary component between the user's manual input and the tissue manipulation function. The motor acts as a mediator that amplifies and controls the force applied to the tissue, allowing precise control over clamping and fastener deployment forces without requiring the user to directly apply high manual forces.
2Reliability
If motor power is automatically controlled with limited user input, then consistency of stapling is improved, but tactile feedback and user control are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a dynamic control system where the motor's power delivery is not fixed but can be adjusted in real-time. The system allows the user to modulate the motor power output through variable input mechanisms, enabling dynamic adjustment of force application during the stapling process. This creates a balanced system that maintains consistency through motor control while preserving user tactile feedback and control authority.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms that allow the user to perceive and respond to forces during operation. Through the handle and mechanical linkage, the user receives tactile feedback from the tissue interaction, enabling intuitive control. The system may also include sensors that detect tissue properties and provide feedback to the control system, allowing adaptive motor power adjustment while maintaining user awareness and control.
3Force
If high manual force is applied repeatedly, then stapling function is achieved, but hand fatigue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent substitutes manual muscle force with motor-generated force for the high-force tasks of tissue clamping and fastener deployment. The motor provides sustained force output without fatigue, enabling prolonged surgical procedures. The user only needs to provide minimal input to activate and control the motor, rather than continuously applying high manual forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The motor-powered system performs the high-force work autonomously once activated, without requiring continuous user force application. The motor self-regulates to maintain appropriate clamping and deployment forces throughout the procedure, freeing the user from the physical burden of repeated high-force manual operations.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution reduces user fatigue by minimizing the force required for stapling and provides enhanced tactile feedback, allowing for consistent and controlled deployment of surgical fasteners, improving the ergonomic design and user experience during surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a motor which is operatively coupled to the movable handle, wherein upon actuation the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces
Implementation Method 2
The drive assembly also includes a controller configured to variably control the rate at which the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces in response to the force exerted on the movable handle
Data Source
AI summary
A medical instrument having a tool assembly attachable to a distal end of the medical instrument is disclosed. The tool assembly includes a pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces for clamping tissue therebetween. The medical instrument also includes a housing having a fixed handle and a movable handle mounted to the housing and selectively movable relative to the fixed handle from a first position in spaced relation relative to the fixed handle to a second position closer to the fixed handle to actuate the clamping of tissue. The instrument further includes a selectively activatable drive assembly including a power source and a motor which is operatively coupled to the movable handle, wherein upon actuation the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces. The drive assembly also includes a controller configured to variably control the rate at which the motor actuates the pair of opposing tissue engaging surfaces in response to the force exerted on the movable handle.