Pre-alignment Shelf for Surgical Cassette Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical cassette alignment systems for phacoemulsification suffer from misalignment issues, leading to jamming, breakage, and poor performance, particularly due to inadequate handling of administration tubing and lack of precise alignment features.
Innovation Solution
A phacoemulsification surgical console with a pre-alignment feature, including a shelf, is introduced to facilitate proper alignment of the surgical cassette by guiding the cassette and tubing into the console receiver, ensuring accurate alignment and secure clamping.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a single type of cassette is used by a particular console regardless of procedure requirements, then device simplicity is maintained, but fluid flow control precision deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides the cassette interface into modular components: a standardized receiver on the console and interchangeable cassettes with different fluidic configurations. This allows the console to remain simple while cassettes are optimized for specific procedures (vacuum-based or positive displacement), resolving the contradiction between device simplicity and procedural precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The console's cassette receiver is designed with universal compatibility to accept different cassette types through a standardized interface. The pre-alignment feature and receiver structure enable the same console to work with multiple cassette configurations, allowing versatility without increasing console complexity.
2Device complexity
If conventional cassette alignment systems are used, then device simplicity is maintained, but alignment precision deteriorates leading to jamming and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-alignment feature extends from the cassette receiver to make preliminary contact with the cassette before full insertion. This preliminary action guides the cassette into proper alignment, preventing misalignment-induced jamming and breakage while adding minimal structural complexity to the receiver.
Solution Approach 2:
The pre-alignment feature acts as an intermediary element between the cassette receiver and the cassette. It mediates the alignment process by providing a guiding surface that facilitates precise positioning without requiring complex alignment mechanisms in either the console or cassette.
3Productivity
If administration tubing is not properly guided during cassette insertion, then insertion speed is maintained, but system reliability deteriorates due to misalignment
Solution Approach 1:
The pre-alignment feature serves as an intermediary that simultaneously guides both the cassette body and the administration tubing during insertion. By providing a guiding surface that contacts the cassette lower portion, it ensures proper alignment of fluidic connections, maintaining both insertion speed and system reliability.
Data Source
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AI summary
A phacoemulsification surgical console, and a related system and method. The console, system and method may include a cassette receiver suitable for receiving a surgical cassette, a controller suitable for controlling provided aspects of the phacoemulsification; and a pre-alignment feature along a lower portion under and proximate to the cassette receiver, extending outwardly from the lower portion, and suitable for aligning the surgical cassette to the cassette receiver. The pre-alignment feature may comprise a shelf.