Multi-Effector Surgical Instrument with Rotatable Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical instruments require frequent insertion and removal from the surgical site and multiple clip attachments, prolonging surgery time due to the need for dedicated end effectors for clipping and cutting operations.
Innovation Solution
A surgical instrument equipped with a housing attached to a robot arm, featuring a plurality of driven members, a shaft, and a support body that rotatably supports multiple end effectors, allowing for reduced insertion and attachment frequencies through a single instrument with multiple end effectors, such as clip appliers, to perform both clipping and cutting tasks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a surgical instrument is equipped with only one end effector for clipping, then the structure is simple, but the surgery time increases due to frequent instrument removal and replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical instrument is designed with a support body that rotatably supports multiple end effectors (clip applier and cutting end effector), allowing a single instrument to perform multiple functions. This eliminates the need to remove and replace the instrument between clipping and cutting operations, directly reducing surgery time while maintaining manageable structural complexity through the shared drive system.
2Device complexity
If the end effector can hold only one clip at a time, then the attachment mechanism is simple, but the number of attachment operations increases
Solution Approach 1:
The clip applier end effector is designed with a holder that can accommodate multiple clips in advance. This preliminary configuration allows multiple clipping operations to be performed without removing the instrument from the surgical site, as the clips are already positioned and ready for application.
3Reliability
If dedicated end effectors are used for clipping and cutting operations, then each operation is optimized, but the number of insertions and removals increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical instrument integrates both a clip applier end effector and a cutting end effector on a single support body that can rotate to position the appropriate end effector. This multi-functional design maintains the operational advantages of specialized tools while eliminating the time loss associated with frequent instrument exchanges, as the same instrument can perform both clipping and cutting functions.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical instrument according to an embodiment may include: a housing that is to be attached to a driving unit of a robot arm and is provided with a plurality of driven members to be driven by a plurality of drive members of the driving unit; a shaft whose one end portion is connected to the housing; a plurality of end effectors; a support body that is rotatably supported by the other end portion of the shaft and rotatably supports the plurality of end effectors; and a plurality of driving elements that are respectively connected to the plurality of driven members to drive the plurality of end effectors and the support body to rotate.