Rotatable Electrosurgical Electrode With Fixed Smoke Evacuation Shaft
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrosurgical devices face challenges in maintaining electrical connections and reducing design complexity when the electrosurgical electrode rotates and telescopically moves relative to the housing, especially when incorporating features like a light source and smoke evacuation.
Innovation Solution
The electrosurgical device design includes a housing with a shaft that is rotationally fixed relative to the housing, featuring a smoke evacuation channel and an electrosurgical electrode that rotates independently, with conductive elements maintaining electrical connections through telescopic and rotational movements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the electrosurgical electrode is made rotatable and telescopically movable relative to the housing, then surgical precision and adaptability are improved, but maintaining electrical connections and reducing design complexity becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into distinct functional segments: a rotatable electrode assembly, a telescopic shaft mechanism, and a fixed housing. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function (rotation, telescopic movement) independently while simplifying the overall design by isolating complexity to modular sections rather than requiring a completely complex integrated system.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode and shaft are designed with dynamic capabilities - the electrode can rotate independently and the shaft can extend/retract telescopically. This dynamic design allows the device to adapt to different surgical angles and lengths while maintaining controlled electrical connections through rotary connectors and telescopic contact mechanisms, resolving the contradiction between versatility and complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If the electrosurgical electrode rotates relative to the housing, then surgical precision is improved, but maintaining electrical connections becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
A rotary connector or slip ring mechanism serves as an intermediary between the rotating electrode and the fixed housing. This intermediary component allows continuous rotational movement while maintaining reliable electrical contact through its specialized design (such as conductive brushes, rotary switches, or magnetic coupling), thus enabling surgical precision without compromising electrical connection reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
Flexible printed circuit boards or thin-film conductive layers are used to maintain electrical connections during rotation. These flexible conductive elements can bend and rotate with the electrode while maintaining continuous electrical contact, allowing the electrode to achieve precise angular positioning without compromising the reliability of the electrical supply.
3Ease of operation
If the shaft is made rotatable relative to the housing, then ease of operation is improved, but maintaining smoke evacuation channel alignment becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The smoke evacuation channel is extracted from the rotating shaft and positioned in the fixed housing instead. This separation allows the shaft to rotate freely for ease of operation while the smoke evacuation channel remains stationary and properly aligned with the housing, eliminating the alignment problem that would result from rotating the entire assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The smoke evacuation system is positioned in a different spatial dimension - while the shaft rotates in the horizontal plane, the smoke evacuation channel is arranged in the vertical plane or along the fixed housing structure. This dimensional separation allows independent rotation of the shaft without affecting smoke evacuation alignment.
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 design simplifies manufacturing costs and maintains electrical connectivity while allowing for adjustable angles and lengths, enhancing surgical precision and safety by ensuring consistent energy delivery and smoke evacuation.
Implementation Method 1
the shaft conducts electrosurgical energy to the electrosurgical electrode
Implementation Method 2
a smoke evacuation channel extending from a proximal end of the shaft to a distal end of the shaft
Data Source
AI summary
In an example, an electrosurgical device includes a housing defining an interior bore, a shaft coupled to the housing, and an electrosurgical electrode coupled to the shaft. The shaft extends distally from the interior bore of the housing. The shaft is rotationally fixed relative to the housing. The shaft includes a smoke evacuation channel extending from a proximal end of the shaft to a distal end of the shaft. A distal portion of the electrosurgical electrode extends distally from the shaft, and wherein the electrosurgical electrode is rotatable relative to the housing and the shaft.