Retractable Stylet and Cannula with Nested Release Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical instruments with multiple components face challenges in secure engagement and efficient disengagement, leading to cumbersome procedures and imprecise results during tissue dilation, requiring successive insertion and removal of multiple instruments.
Innovation Solution
A surgical instrument comprising an outer sleeve, middle sleeve, trocar, and handle with a release mechanism that allows for individual or combined engagement and easy removal of components, facilitating sequential dilation without the need for multiple instrument exchanges.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple separate instruments are used for sequential dilation, then each instrument can be optimized for its specific function, but the procedure becomes time-consuming and cumbersome due to successive insertion and removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate dilation instruments into a single integrated device where a stylet, middle sleeve, and outer sleeve are nested within each other and attached to a common handle. This allows all components to be inserted simultaneously as one unit and removed together, eliminating the time loss from successive insertions and removals while maintaining the functional optimization of each component.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a nested configuration where the stylet is inserted into the middle sleeve, which is in turn inserted into the outer sleeve, with all components attached to a single handle. This nesting arrangement enables the components to be handled as a single integrated unit, solving the time loss problem while preserving individual component functionality.
2Reliability
If multiple separate instruments are used for sequential dilation, then each instrument can perform its specific dilation function, but the positioning precision deteriorates due to difficulty in maintaining coaxial alignment
Solution Approach 1:
By merging multiple dilation components into a single integrated instrument with a common handle and shared central axis, the patent ensures that all components (stylet, middle sleeve, outer sleeve) are automatically coaxially aligned during insertion. This eliminates the positioning precision problems associated with manually aligning separate instruments.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested arrangement of the stylet within the middle sleeve within the outer sleeve, all attached to a common handle, inherently maintains coaxial alignment of all components. The nested structure physically constrains each component to follow the same central axis, ensuring precise positioning without requiring manual alignment efforts.
3Reliability
If multiple separate instruments are used for sequential dilation, then progressive dilation can be achieved, but the procedure becomes cumbersome due to multiple instrument exchanges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple dilation functions into a single operable unit with one handle that controls all components. The surgeon can perform sequential dilation by manipulating a single integrated instrument rather than exchanging multiple separate instruments, greatly simplifying the operation while maintaining the ability to achieve progressive dilation through the nested components.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested configuration allows all dilation components to be controlled from a single handle position. The surgeon can advance or retract each nested component (stylet, middle sleeve, outer sleeve) independently while maintaining a single point of control, making the procedure easier to operate while preserving progressive dilation capability.
4Ease of operation
If multiple components are attached to separate handles, then each component can be independently controlled, but the disengagement process becomes cumbersome and inefficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple components that would otherwise require separate handles into a single integrated instrument with one handle. This merging reduces disengagement complexity by allowing all components to be removed together as a unit or in a simplified sequence, while still allowing independent control of each component during the dilation process.
Data Source
AI summary
In one preferred aspect, a surgical instrument for insertion into human tissue is provided with a release mechanism that permits one or more components of the surgical instrument to be removably coupled to a handle.