Percutaneous Tendon Repair Device with Deployable Distal Tip
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical methods for repairing torn, ruptured, or damaged tendons, muscles, and ligaments are often invasive and can lead to complications such as scar tissue formation and reduced range of motion, with replaced ligaments lacking the original biomechanical properties.
Innovation Solution
A percutaneous tissue approximation system comprising a hollow tube with an inner core that can be moved between positions to deploy and retract a distal tip or tines for securing tissue, allowing for minimally invasive approximation and stabilization of damaged tissues, optionally with the delivery of therapeutic substances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If open or arthroscopic surgery is performed to repair torn tendons, muscles, or ligaments, then the tissue can be directly accessed and repaired, but scar tissue forms and range of motion is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of tissue approximation from open surgery by using percutaneous delivery of anchors and tensile members. The anchors are delivered through small gauge needles percutaneously, extracting the invasive surgical approach while maintaining the tissue repair function, thereby reducing scar tissue formation and preserving range of motion
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces intermediary components (anchors, tensile members, and delivery devices) that mediate the tissue repair process without requiring direct surgical exposure. The anchors act as intermediaries to secure the tensile members, which in turn approximate the torn tissue, enabling repair through minimal puncture sites rather than open incisions
2Reliability
If ligament replacement is performed through surgical drilling, then the torn ligament can be replaced, but the replaced ligament lacks the original biomechanical properties and osteoarthritis develops over time
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by delivering anchors into the bone adjacent to the ligament attachment sites before ligament replacement. The anchors are positioned in advance to secure the tensile member, allowing the ligament graft to be tensioned and fixed without requiring extensive drilling or manipulation that compromises biomechanical properties
Solution Approach 2:
The invention substitutes the traditional mechanical drilling and suturing system with a percutaneous anchor-based system. Instead of drilling tunnels and passing sutures through bone and ligament, the system uses anchors inserted percutaneously to secure tensile members, reducing mechanical trauma and preserving the biomechanical integrity of the replaced ligament
3Ease of operation
If percutaneous delivery is used to approximate tissue, then the procedure becomes minimally invasive, but the device must navigate through tissue to deliver anchors and tensile members
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies the nested doll principle by placing the anchor inside the hollow needle for percutaneous delivery. The anchor is contained within the needle lumen during insertion, then deployed through the needle tip into the bone. This nesting allows the complex anchor structure to be delivered through a simple, minimally invasive needle pathway
Solution Approach 2:
The invention segments the tissue approximation function into separate components: anchors for bone fixation, tensile members for tissue approximation, and delivery devices for percutaneous insertion. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while being delivered through a unified minimally invasive approach, managing overall device complexity through functional decomposition
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
A device for the approximation of tissue including a hollow tube housing an inner core. The inner core may be moved within the hollow tube between first and second positions. The inner core comprises a distal tip. When the inner core is placed into the first position, the distal tip extends away from or outside of the hollow tube such that the distal tip may become securely attached to a selected tissue at a desired location. Once secured to tissue, the distal tip is configured to approximate the torn tissue in a selected direction. Associated systems and methods are also disclosed.