Nerve Mapping System Using Electrical Stimulus and Muscle Response
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional surgical methods lack effective means to accurately detect and avoid nerves during minimally invasive procedures, leading to potential nerve injury.
Innovation Solution
A nerve mapping system comprising electrodes, sensors, and a processor that provides electrical stimuli to intracorporeal tissue to determine nerve locations, constructing a virtual model for display or robotic control to guide surgical tools safely.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional surgical methods are used, then surgical procedures can be performed, but nerve detection capability is insufficient leading to potential nerve injury
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single integrated system: electrical stimulation delivery through electrodes, muscle response monitoring via sensors, processor-based nerve location determination, and virtual model construction. This merging of stimulation, sensing, processing, and visualization components resolves the contradiction by providing reliable nerve detection while presenting a unified system to the surgeon rather than multiple separate devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical system is enhanced with multi-functionality by integrating nerve detection capabilities alongside existing surgical functions. The same elongate medical devices used for treatment also serve as platforms for electrode placement and stimulation delivery. The system universally applies to various surgical contexts by constructing virtual models that can guide different surgical tools and procedures, thereby improving nerve detection reliability without requiring entirely separate specialized equipment.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive surgical techniques are used, then patient trauma is reduced, but nerve detection and avoidance capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical exposure-based nerve identification with an electrical field-based detection system. Instead of relying on visual identification through surgical exposure, the system uses electrical stimulation and monitors muscle responses to precisely locate nerves. This substitution enables accurate nerve detection through small incisions, maintaining the benefits of minimally invasive surgery while achieving superior measurement precision for nerve locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces an intermediary detection mechanism between the surgeon and the nerve tissue. Rather than directly visualizing nerves through exposure, the system uses electrical stimulation as an intermediary to indirectly detect nerve presence and location through muscle response monitoring. This intermediary approach allows precise nerve location identification through minimal exposure, resolving the contradiction between reduced patient trauma and improved detection precision.
3Measurement precision
If electrical stimulation is applied to locate nerves, then nerve detection accuracy improves, but risk of unintended nerve activation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs feedback control by monitoring muscle responses to electrical stimulation and using this information to adjust subsequent stimulation parameters. The processor analyzes the magnitude of muscle responses to determine nerve proximity and modifies stimulation intensity accordingly. This feedback mechanism enables accurate nerve location identification while preventing harmful over-stimulation, as the system continuously adapts stimulation levels based on real-time physiological responses.
Solution Approach 2:
The stimulation system operates dynamically by adjusting electrical stimulus parameters based on real-time conditions. Rather than applying fixed-intensity stimulation, the system varies stimulation magnitude and frequency according to detected muscle responses and calculated nerve proximity. This dynamic approach allows the system to maintain high measurement precision for nerve location while minimizing the risk of unintended nerve activation by adapting stimulation levels to actual tissue conditions.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables real-time nerve detection and avoidance, enhancing surgical precision and safety by providing a virtual model of nerve locations to surgeons and robotic controllers, reducing the risk of nerve injury during procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The processor is configured to provide an electrical stimulus to each of the one or more electrodes such that the stimulus may be transmitted to intracorporeal tissue
Implementation Method 2
The sensor is configured to provide an output signal corresponding to a monitored response of a muscle
Data Source
AI summary
A nerve mapping system includes a plurality of electrodes, a sensor, and a processor in communication with each of the plurality of electrodes and the sensor. Each electrode is disposed on the distal end portion of one or more elongate medical devices configured to extend within an intracorporeal treatment area of a subject. The sensor is in communication with a muscle of a subject, and is configured to provide an output signal corresponding to a monitored response of the muscle. The processor receives an indication of the location of each electrode and an indication of a magnitude of the monitored muscular response. Using these parameters, the processor determines a distance to the nerve from the location of each of the plurality of electrodes, and constructs a virtual model of the nerve using the determined distance to the nerve at each of the plurality of locations.