Rotatable Carriage for Minimally Invasive Instrument Sterile Adapter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Minimally invasive medical procedures face challenges with cable stress and friction, leading to reduced cable life due to unwrap torque and internal friction, which affects the consistency and precision of medical instrument movement.
Innovation Solution
The use of a rotatable carriage system that rolls the medical instrument instead of rotating the instrument shaft, reducing unwrap torque and internal friction, and incorporating a sterile adapter assembly with nested disks to transfer movement and maintain sterility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the medical instrument shaft is rotated during minimally invasive procedures, then the instrument can be reoriented, but unwrap torque and internal friction increase, reducing cable life and movement precision
Solution Approach 1:
A rotatable carriage is introduced as an intermediary component between the fixed instrument holder and the medical instrument. The carriage rotates independently while the instrument shaft remains stationary, allowing instrument reorientation without rotating the cable-connected shaft. This mediator absorbs the rotational movement, preventing torque transmission to the cable.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is segmented into distinct functional components: a fixed instrument holder, a rotatable carriage, and a stationary instrument shaft. By separating the rotation function from the cable connection point, the patent eliminates the harmful coupling between instrument reorientation and cable twisting.
2Loss of information
If cables are used to transmit communication signals between robotic system components, then data and power can be transmitted, but cable stress and friction reduce cable life and affect movement consistency
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable carriage acts as a mechanical intermediary that decouples the cable from rotational movements. By positioning the cable connection at the stationary instrument holder rather than the rotating shaft, the carriage mediates between the need for instrument rotation and the need to protect the cable from stress.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the instrument shaft is rotated to change instrument orientation, then procedural flexibility is improved, but internal friction increases and adversely affects movement consistency
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable carriage serves as a mediator that provides instrument orientation flexibility without transmitting rotational friction to the instrument shaft. The carriage's rotation mechanism is isolated from the cable-driven shaft, allowing versatile instrument positioning while maintaining consistent, friction-free shaft movement.
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
This approach extends the life of medical instrument cables by minimizing stress and friction, ensuring consistent and precise movement of medical instruments during procedures while maintaining a sterile environment.
Implementation Method 1
a light pipe extending axially through the carriage and configured to transmit light energy between a proximal end portion and a distal end portion of the carriage
Data Source
AI summary
A sterile adapter for providing a sterile interface between an instrument and an instrument holder includes a fixed frame couplable to an instrument holder; a roll disk positioned within the frame and rotatable with respect to the frame; an inner disk positioned within the roll disk and rotatable with respect to the roll disk; and a light pipe positioned in the roll disk and configured to transmit light energy through the roll disk