Ophthalmic Microsurgical Instrument with Illuminated Composite Microcannula
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical treatments for glaucoma often require large incisions through the sclera, leading to complications such as infection and scarring, and lack precision in accessing the eye's drainage network for improving aqueous humor flow.
Innovation Solution
A trocar with a rigid hollow shaft and a composite microcannula that includes a light guide for illumination, allowing for precise tissue penetration and navigation within the eye's structures, reducing the need for large incisions and enhancing the delivery of payloads to target regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If large incisions through the sclera are made to access the drainage network, then the ability to modify the trabecular meshwork and improve aqueous humor flow is enhanced, but the risk of infection, scarring, and loss of fluid pressure increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical approach is segmented into two distinct components: a rigid trocar for tissue penetration and a flexible microcannula for navigation within Schlemm's canal. This segmentation allows the rigid portion to create a small puncture while the flexible portion performs the delicate surgical modifications, thereby reducing tissue trauma and complication risks while maintaining surgical capability
Solution Approach 2:
The microcannula is nested within the trocar during insertion, with the microcannula passing through the lumen of the trocar. This nested configuration allows both instruments to be introduced through a single small puncture site, eliminating the need for separate large incisions and reducing the risk of infection and scarring
2Measurement precision
If a flexible outer sheath is used to position the microcannula entry point, then accurate positioning is improved, but the ability to penetrate the sclera is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument is divided into two functional segments: a rigid trocar shaft for penetrating the sclera and a flexible microcannula for accurate positioning within Schlemm's canal. The rigid portion provides the necessary strength for tissue penetration while the flexible portion enables precise navigation, resolving the contradiction between penetration capability and positioning accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The rigid trocar is used to perform the preliminary action of penetrating the sclera and creating an entry pathway. Once the puncture is established, the flexible microcannula is then advanced through the created pathway to achieve accurate positioning within the drainage network, separating the penetration and positioning functions into sequential steps
3Reliability
If the microcannula tip is shaped for tissue penetration, then the ability to enter drainage structures is improved, but the ability to deliver payloads into the eye interior is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument design separates the penetration function (rigid trocar with shaped distal end) from the payload delivery function (flexible microcannula with open lumen). The trocar creates the entry pathway and accesses the drainage structures, while the microcannula serves as the delivery conduit for payloads, allowing each component to be optimized for its specific function without compromise
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
The solution enables minimally invasive procedures with reduced risk of complications, improved precision in accessing and treating the eye's drainage network, and faster recovery times by using a small puncture method that illuminates the distal end of the trocar and microcannula for accurate positioning.
Implementation Method 1
The composite microcannula may include a light guide. A light source may be coupled to the composite microcannula and/or trocar to illuminate the distal end of the rigid hollow shaft
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a microsurgical instrument includes a trocar having a rigid, hollow shaft formed with a lumen extending from a proximal end to a distal end of the shaft. The distal end of the shaft may be shaped for tissue penetration. The instrument may further include a composite microcannula slidably engaged with the trocar in the lumen. The microcannula includes a light guide and a flexible hollow tube having an outer diameter less than an inner diameter of the lumen in the trocar. Other embodiments include placing the microcannula in the lumen of the trocar, illuminating the end of the trocar by illuminating the end of the microcannula, advancing the trocar from a selected entry point on an eye into a selected structure in the eye, and extending the illuminated end of the microcannula from the trocar into the selected structure.