Needle Loader for Minimally Invasive Suturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) suturing is challenging due to limited space, visualization, and mobility, with existing devices being difficult to use and posing risks of accidental needle sticks and tissue damage.
Innovation Solution
A needle loader with a planar surface and hub for toroidally shaped needles, which includes a groove for suture retention and a guard to prevent accidental needle exposure, facilitating easy loading and secure knot tying within a suturing device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive surgery is performed through small punctures, then patient pain and disability are reduced, but surgical manipulation precision and visualization are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The needle loader integrates multiple functional components within a compact structure that fits through small punctures. The hub, needle retaining features, and loading mechanisms are nested within each other, allowing complex suturing functionality to be delivered through minimally invasive access points while maintaining surgical precision
Solution Approach 2:
The device transforms the traditional linear needle insertion approach into a rotational and orbital motion system. The needle can rotate around the hub and follow orbital paths, enabling complex suturing patterns through limited access points, effectively adding rotational and orbital dimensions to the otherwise constrained linear movement space
2Ease of operation
If manual suturing is performed by hand, then flexibility in suture placement is improved, but the risk of accidental needle sticks and contamination increases
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is extracted from direct hand manipulation and transferred to a controlled loading system. The needle loader hub retains the needle through magnetic or mechanical features, removing it from the surgeon's direct hand control while maintaining precise positioning capability, thereby eliminating accidental sticks during needle handling
Solution Approach 2:
The needle loader acts as an intermediary device between the surgeon and the needle. Instead of direct hand-to-needle contact, the surgeon controls the loading mechanism which then precisely positions and releases the needle, creating a safe intermediate layer that prevents accidental sticks while preserving surgical flexibility
3Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional suturing instruments are used through cannulas, then minimally invasive access is achieved, but instrument manipulation precision and coordination difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The needle loader combines multiple functions into a single integrated device: needle retention, rotational control, orbital motion, and release mechanisms are merged into one unit that fits through the cannula. This consolidation reduces the number of separate instruments needed and simplifies manipulation while maintaining minimally invasive access
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates dynamic elements including rotational capability around the hub, orbital motion paths, and adjustable positioning mechanisms. These dynamic features allow the needle to be precisely positioned and manipulated in multiple degrees of freedom, reducing the complexity of manual coordination required while maintaining access through small punctures
Data Source
AI summary
The invention includes a needle loader that may be used with a suturing device. The needle loader includes a generally planar needle supporting surface, a hub configured and adapted for receiving a generally toroidally shaped suturing needle around the hub, and means for retaining a suturing needle in a fixed toroidal rotational position with respect to the hub about a center axis of needle rotation. Generally, a needle mounted around the hub is selectively disposable on and removable from the hub. In accordance with a further aspect, the loader may further include an opening for retaining suture material attached to a suturing needle. The opening may include a groove defined through the needle supporting surface. The needle loader may further include a guard for preventing access to the point of a suturing needle to protect the needle and/or to prevent accidental needle sticks.