Curved Tunneling Tool With Optical Window for Scar Tissue Dissection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical procedures face challenges in safely accessing and implanting medical devices, such as ICD leads, in sub-sternal or extravascular spaces, particularly in patients with previous sternotomies due to extensive scar tissue and adhesions, which complicate the creation of a sub-sternal tunnel.
Innovation Solution
A tunneling tool with a curved shaft and integrated cutting tool, featuring an optical window and selective dissection capabilities, allows for precise visualization and controlled blunt or sharp dissection to create a sub-sternal tunnel, enabling safe implantation of medical devices even in patients with previous sternotomies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional linear tunneling tool is used, then the tool structure is simple, but it cannot provide direct visualization and selective dissection capabilities in patients with extensive scar tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions into a single tunneling tool: the curved shaft provides visualization through its shape, the optical window enables direct viewing, and the integrated cutting tool allows selective dissection. This merging of visualization and dissection capabilities into one instrument improves safety while managing complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The tunneling shaft is configured with a curved orientation rather than linear, which provides direct visualization of the tunnel path and allows the cutting tool to be positioned at the distal end for effective dissection of scar tissue and adhesions in the sub-sternal space.
2Ease of operation
If extensive dissection is performed in patients with previous sternotomies, then access to sub-sternal space is achieved, but the risk of organ injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
The optical window provides real-time visual feedback to the operator during tunneling, allowing direct observation of tissue structures and organ boundaries. This feedback mechanism enables controlled dissection by allowing the operator to see ahead and avoid vital structures while creating the sub-sternal tunnel.
Solution Approach 2:
The curved shaft acts as an intermediary that provides direct visualization of the tunnel path ahead, allowing the operator to see through the instrument itself rather than relying on external imaging. This visual intermediary enables safe navigation through scar tissue while avoiding organ injury.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a cutting tool is integrated into the tunneling shaft, then selective dissection capability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The tunneling tool is designed as a multi-functional instrument that combines tunneling, visualization through the optical window, and selective dissection with the integrated cutting tool. This universal design allows a single instrument to perform multiple functions that would otherwise require separate tools, improving adaptability while managing overall device complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
In some examples, a tool for, e.g., creating a sub-sternal tunnel in a patient or other use, is described. The tool may include a handle and a tunneling shaft coupled to the handle. The tunneling shaft extends from a proximal end to a distal end, and at least a portion of the tunneling shaft extends in a curved orientation between the first end to the distal end. The distal end of the tunneling shaft includes a cutting tool having a sharp edge. The cutting tool is moveable from a recessed position in which the sharp edge of the cutting tool is recessed into the distal end of the tunneling shaft to a deployed position in which the sharp edge of the cutting tool extends beyond the distal end of the tunneling shaft in the deployed position, e.g., to cut pericardium, scar tissue, and/or connective tissue with the sharp edge.