Coordinated Multi-Needle Suturing Device for Heart Valves
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for suturing prosthetic heart valves during surgeries are time-consuming and require great dexterity, with a risk of sutures being too tight, too loose, or coming loose, which can jeopardize patient health and increase surgical complications.
Innovation Solution
A suturing device with a shaft portion, handle portion, and distal suturing portion featuring curved and straight needles that work in coordination to simultaneously place multiple sutures around the perimeter of an annular prosthetic device, ensuring secure attachment to native heart valve tissue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple sutures are placed one at a time by a surgeon, then each suture can be carefully secured, but the surgical time increases and the risk of complications increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple suture placement functions into a single integrated device. The suturing device includes multiple needles (both curved and straight) that can place multiple sutures simultaneously around the prosthetic heart valve in one surgical action, eliminating the need to place each suture separately and dramatically reducing surgical time while maintaining security through coordinated multi-needle operation
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs preliminary positioning and preparation of multiple sutures before final placement. The curved needles first penetrate the tissue and prosthetic valve to establish suture paths, then the straight needles are advanced to secure the sutures in their final positions, ensuring proper placement before completion of all sutures in a coordinated sequence
2Productivity
If multiple sutures are placed simultaneously using coordinated curved and straight needles, then surgical time is reduced and precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The suturing device is segmented into distinct functional components: curved needles for initial penetration and suture path establishment, straight needles for final suture securing, and a coordinated actuation mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while working together as an integrated system to place multiple sutures simultaneously
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs intermediary elements such as suture guides and coordinated actuation mechanisms that mediate between the surgeon's control and the complex multi-needle operation. These intermediaries simplify the control interface while enabling precise coordination of multiple needles, reducing the perceived complexity for the operator while maintaining high productivity
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are devices and methods for delivering several sutures accurately and simultaneously around the perimeter of an annular prosthetic device (prosthetic heart valve, annuloplasty ring, etc.) to secure the prosthetic device within a native heart valve region. Devices can comprise a proximal handle portion including an actuator and a distal suturing portion including several curved and straight needles arrayed around the shaft axis. The straight needles and the curved needles are configured to simultaneously guide a plurality of sutures through the native tissue and through the annular prosthetic device. The actuator can cause the straight needles to move axially relative to the curved needles and can also cause the curved needles to rotate, such that the motions are coordinated to simultaneously place all the sutures.