Robotic Surgery Force Transfer Across a Sterile Barrier
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In minimally invasive surgical procedures, maintaining hygiene and preventing contamination between sterile and non-sterile sections is challenging due to the need for force transmission across a barrier, which can compromise the sterile field.
Innovation Solution
A surgical system with a barrier separating sterile and non-sterile sections, using a drive component and manipulator with a continuous barrier to transmit force through a projection engaged in a receiving feature, ensuring isolation while allowing for precise control of surgical instruments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a barrier is introduced to separate sterile and non-sterile sections, then sterility is maintained, but force transmission becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
A flexible membrane acts as an intermediary barrier between sterile and non-sterile sections. The membrane includes a sterile barrier portion that maintains sterility and a non-sterile portion that allows force transmission. Drive elements on the non-sterile side engage with driven elements on the sterile side through the membrane, enabling force transmission while maintaining the sterile field separation.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier membrane is segmented into distinct functional zones: a sterile barrier portion that prevents contamination and a non-sterile portion that transmits force. This segmentation allows different regions of the same barrier to serve different purposes, simultaneously achieving sterility maintenance and force transmission.
2Reliability
If a continuous barrier is used to maintain sterility, then contamination is prevented, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane serves multiple functions simultaneously: it acts as a sterile barrier, a force transmission medium, and a structural support for drive and driven elements. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate components, thereby simplifying the overall device complexity while maintaining contamination prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The barrier membrane is merged with the drive mechanism, where drive elements and driven elements are integrated into the membrane structure. This merging eliminates the need for separate barrier and transmission components, reducing device complexity while maintaining sterility.
3Force
If drive elements engage through the barrier, then force transmission is enabled, but the barrier integrity is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible membrane is constructed as a thin film that can deform elastically to accommodate drive elements and driven elements passing through it. This flexibility allows force transmission while the membrane's elastic recovery maintains barrier integrity, preventing contamination between sterile and non-sterile sections.
Solution Approach 2:
The membrane transitions from a static barrier to a dynamic structure that deforms during force transmission and returns to its original state. This dynamic behavior allows the barrier to adapt to the passage of drive elements while maintaining its integrity and sterile field separation.
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
The system maintains sterility by isolating sterile and non-sterile sections while enabling precise control of surgical instruments, reducing the risk of contamination and ensuring effective surgical performance.
Implementation Method 1
The associated drive element can have a drive screw, a nut which can translationally displace about a longitudinal axis of the drive screw in response to drive screw rotation about the longitudinal axis
Implementation Method 2
The robotic surgery apparatus can also include a continuous barrier separating the manipulator and the drive component. At least a portion of the barrier can cover the projection so that the projection engages the receiving feature through the barrier.
Data Source
AI summary
A force transmission system as part of a surgical system which may be configured to be a minimally invasive and/or computer assisted surgical system. Operation of the system may be controlled by transmission of a force from a first section to a second section of the system. The first section and the second section may be separated by a partition or a barrier. The first section may be a non-sterile section and the second section may be a sterile section of the surgical system.