Endoscopic Overtube Slider Mechanism for Independent Tool Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing endoscopic surgical systems face challenges in smoothly performing surgeries due to complex mechanisms for interlocking control of endoscopes and treatment tools, leading to prolonged procedures and interference issues with air supply connectors and tubes, especially when multiple instruments are used.
Innovation Solution
An endoscopic surgical device with an overtube featuring a slider member and sleeve member that allows for independent movement of the endoscope and treatment tool, with a fluid-supplying connector positioned on the base end to prevent interference, enabling easier adjustment of the visual field and improved operability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the endoscope and treatment tool are mechanically interlocked to move together, then the visual field follows the treatment tool automatically, but the mechanism becomes enlarged and complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The overtube is divided into a slider member and a sleeve member that can move independently relative to each other. The slider member holds the endoscope while the sleeve member holds the treatment tool, allowing separate control of each instrument without complex mechanical interlocking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The sleeve member acts as an intermediary between the treatment tool and the slider member. It can move independently within the slider member's internal space, mediating the relationship between the treatment tool and endoscope without requiring direct mechanical coupling.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the air supply connector is positioned on the side surface of the overtube, then the overtube can rotate around its axis, but the air supply tube and connector may interfere with the body wall
Solution Approach 1:
The air supply connector is extracted from the side surface of the overtube and repositioned to the base end. This removes the source of potential interference with the body wall while preserving the overtube's rotation capability around its axis.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple instruments are used through the overtube, then treatment versatility is improved, but the air supply tube may interfere with the instruments
Solution Approach 1:
The air supply connector is repositioned from the side surface to the base end of the overtube, changing the spatial dimension of the air supply tube's path. This allows multiple instruments to pass through the overtube without interfering with the air supply tube, as they travel through different spatial pathways.
Data Source
AI summary
An overtube includes a slider within an overtube body, which guides an endoscope and a treatment tool into a body cavity. An endoscope-coupled part and a treatment tool-coupled part are provided in the slider, and the slider has a dead zone where the forward and backward movement of either the endoscope or the treatment tool does not interlock with the movement of the other and a sensing zone where the forward and backward movement of either the endoscope or the treatment tool interlocks with the movement of the other. A fluid-supplying connector that is provided on a base end surface of the overtube body, and has an axial direction that is made parallel to a longitudinal axis of the overtube body, and is detachably connected to an air supply tube for sending fluid into the body cavity through an internal space of the overtube body.