Needle Driver Grip With Shifting Rollers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical instruments, such as needle drivers, are often expensive, incompatible, laborious to disinfect, non-ergonomic, bulky, and time-consuming to use, especially when requiring different tools for suturing, grasping, or dissecting tissues.
Innovation Solution
The improved needle driver features a grip with a distal end that includes a first and second jaw, a guard, a grasping portion, and a non-grasping portion. The jaws host rollers with groove patterns, and a shifting feature allows the grip to transition between driving and grasping positions, enhancing the ability to consistently drive needles and grasp sutures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple different surgical instruments are used for suturing, grasping, or dissecting tissues, then the ability to perform specific surgical functions is improved, but the device complexity and number of instruments required increases
Solution Approach 1:
The needle driver grip is designed to perform multiple surgical functions including suturing, grasping, and dissecting tissues through a single device. The grip can switch between needle driving mode (with rollers in aligned position) and tissue grasping mode (with rollers in offset position), eliminating the need for separate surgical instruments for each function.
2Measurement precision
If multiple different surgical instruments are used for various surgical actions, then surgical precision is improved, but the time required for instrument insertion and withdrawal increases
Solution Approach 1:
The multi-functional grip allows surgeons to perform multiple surgical actions with a single instrument, eliminating the need to repeatedly insert and withdraw different instruments during procedures. The grip maintains surgical precision through its specialized roller mechanism for needle driving while also providing grasping capability, reducing overall procedure time.
3Measurement precision
If different needle-specific drivers are used for varying needle sizes, then the precision for driving different needle sizes is improved, but the device complexity and compatibility issues increase
Solution Approach 1:
The grip incorporates a dynamic roller positioning mechanism that can shift between aligned and offset positions. The rollers feature groove patterns that adapt to different needle sizes and configurations. This dynamic adjustment capability allows the same grip to precisely drive various needle sizes without requiring multiple specialized instruments.
4Ease of manufacture
If the grip structure is simplified to reduce device complexity, then ease of manufacture and sterilization is improved, but the ability to consistently drive needles and grasp sutures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The grip is segmented into distinct functional zones: a non-grasping portion for sterilization and a grasping portion with rollers for surgical operations. This segmentation allows the critical rolling mechanism to be designed for consistent, repeatable action while the overall structure remains relatively simple for manufacturing and sterilization processing.
Data Source
AI summary
An improved grip for a needle driver is disclosed. The grip includes an upper jaw including an upper roller and a lower jaw including a lower roller, and includes a guard that is distributed across the jaws that prevents a needle and/or suture from entering a non-grasping portion of the grip. The grip also includes a shifting feature that is distributed across at least one of the jaws and at least one of the rollers. The shifting feature increasingly “shifts” or moves one of the rollers in a longitudinal direction towards a distal end of the needle driver, while the other roller remains stationary, until the shifting roller overlaps the stationary roller, and peaks of the shifting roller are seated within valleys of the stationary roller, thus grasping the suture between the rollers. The grip also drives a needle between the rollers when the grip is in a driving position.