Needle Guide Path Design for Lumen-Sparing Tissue Piercing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing tissue piercing systems often penetrate the lumen of hollow organs, compromising their integrity and sterility during procedures like rectopexy, which is used to treat rectal prolapse.

Innovation Solution

A tissue-pexy system comprising a needle guide and a tissue manipulator, where the needle guide has a cavity to allow the needle to pierce the tissue without traversing its full thickness, and the tissue manipulator approximates the tissue to the needle guide, ensuring the needle path crosses the same surface multiple times without entering the organ's lumen.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a needle is used to pierce tissue for introducing devices or substances, then the tissue can be accessed or secured, but the needle may penetrate the full thickness of the tissue including the lumen of hollow organs, compromising their integrity and sterility

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetissue securing reliabilityVSAvoidlumen integrity compromise

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The needle guide is positioned and configured in advance with a cavity that defines a restricted path of travel for the needle. This preliminary configuration ensures that the needle can only pierce the tissue at specific locations and depths, preventing full-thickness penetration into the lumen while still achieving effective tissue securing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The needle guide acts as an intermediary device between the needle and the tissue. It provides a physical structure with a cavity that mediates the needle's path, allowing the needle to pierce the tissue externally without entering the lumen, thus protecting lumen integrity while enabling tissue access.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If the needle guide opening is positioned proximal to the tissue to direct the needle, then the needle can pierce the tissue effectively, but there is no mechanism to prevent the needle from traversing the full thickness of the tissue

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveneedle positioning easeVSAvoidneedle penetration depth control

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSManufacturing precision

Solution Approach 1:

The needle guide cavity is pre-configured with a specific geometry that defines the maximum depth and path of needle penetration. This preliminary structural design automatically controls the needle's travel distance, ensuring it pierces only the external tissue layers without reaching the lumen, thereby providing precise depth control without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS12496060B2Tissue surface piercing system and methods

Publication Date: 2025.12.16 ALTYX MEDICAL INC

AI summary

A system, including a needle guide defining a path of travel of a needle inserted through the guide, and a tissue manipulator configured to approximate tissue and said needle guide and to position at least a portion of the tissue in the path of travel of the needle, and wherein the tissue manipulator and the needle guide are alignable such that the path of travel crosses a same surface of the tissue a plurality of times.