Reusable Surgical Needle with Collapsible Loop for Cardiac Implant Suturing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical needles require multiple types and sizes for different procedures, leading to high costs and a risk of pledgets being lost inside the patient during cardiac implant surgeries, as each suture needs a separate needle and pledget.
Innovation Solution
A versatile surgical needle with a flexible looped portion that can capture and release sutures, allowing reuse, and a suture spool assembly for efficient suture dispensing, along with a single annular pledget for multiple sutures, reducing the need for multiple needles and pledgets.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple customized needles are used for different sutures, then each suture can be properly secured, but the total cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent describes a single surgical needle that can be reused for multiple sutures during cardiac implant procedures. The needle includes a shaft with a curved portion and a looped portion that can capture and release multiple sutures sequentially, eliminating the need for multiple customized needles while maintaining secure suture attachment for each stitch
Solution Approach 2:
The needle design allows the surgical needle to be recovered and reused after each suture is secured. The looped portion captures the suture, the needle is withdrawn, the suture is released, and the needle is ready for the next suture, enabling recovery and reuse of the same needle throughout the procedure
2Reliability
If separate pledgets are used for each suture, then tissue protection is provided, but the risk of pledget loss inside the patient increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent describes combining multiple individual pledgets into a single larger pledget that can accommodate multiple sutures. This single pledget is positioned against the tissue and receives multiple sutures from the reusable needle, providing continuous tissue protection while eliminating the risk of individual pledgets becoming loose and lost inside the patient
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple customized needles are used for different surgical aspects, then each procedural need is met, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical needle is designed with universal applicability for multiple aspects of cardiac implant surgery. The needle shaft can be curved or straight, and the looped portion can capture various suture types, making a single needle design adaptable to different procedural needs without requiring multiple specialized needle types
4Manufacturing precision
If each suture uses a dedicated needle, then suture placement precision is maintained, but the time required for surgery increases
Solution Approach 1:
The reusable needle design enables continuous useful action by eliminating the time required to exchange needles between sutures. The needle remains in the surgeon's control, is withdrawn after each suture, and is immediately ready for the next suture, maintaining continuous productive action throughout the suturing procedure without interruption for needle changes
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
Reduces the total cost of needles, minimizes the risk of pledget loss, and simplifies the suturing process by allowing the same needle to be used for multiple sutures and a single pledget to secure cardiac implants to native tissue.
Implementation Method 1
The looped portion is resiliently collapsible from the open configuration to a collapsed configuration such that the surgical needle is adapted to capture a suture in the looped portion in the collapsed configuration while the surgical needle is drawn through a target object. The looped portion is then resiliently expandable from the collapsed configuration back to the open configuration, such that the surgical needle is adapted to release the captured suture from the looped portion
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein are reusable surgical needles having a resiliently collapsible rear loop that captures a suture as it is passed through an object and resiliently expands upon exiting the object to release the suture. Also described are suture spool assemblies that include a rigid housing and a rotatable spool of suture material suspended within the housing so that a plurality of sutures can be dispensed from the assembly in succession during a surgery. Also described are annular pledgets having diametrical dimensions similar to an outer ring of a cardiac implant such that a single annular pledget can be used with a plurality of sutures that secure the cardiac implant to native tissue around the perimeter of the cardiac implant. Related methods of suturing cardiac implants are also disclosed.