Rotatable Jaw Tip for Surgical Instruments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical instruments face challenges in providing precise control and adaptability during tissue stapling and cutting, particularly in navigating complex tissue structures and maintaining consistent stapling performance across varying tissue thicknesses.
Innovation Solution
The development of a surgical instrument with a rotatable jaw tip and advanced articulation controls, including a handle with orientation sensors, magnetic elements, and articulation actuators, allows for precise control and adaptation during tissue manipulation. This instrument features a rotatable shaft with articulation actuators on opposing sides, enabling intuitive articulation and staple firing mechanisms that adjust based on tissue type and thickness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a surgical instrument uses a fixed jaw tip design, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but it cannot adapt to varying tissue thicknesses and types
Solution Approach 1:
The jaw tip is designed to be rotatable relative to the staple cartridge, allowing it to dynamically adjust its orientation angle to match the contour of tissue being stapled. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the same jaw tip structure to adapt to varying tissue thicknesses and types without requiring multiple different jaw tips, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The orientation angle of the jaw tip is changed as a variable parameter to achieve adaptation to different tissue conditions. By rotating the jaw tip to different angles, the instrument can accommodate varying tissue thicknesses and contours while maintaining the same physical jaw tip structure, thus improving adaptability without increasing device complexity.
2Measurement precision
If a surgical instrument lacks articulation control, then the device is simpler to operate, but it cannot navigate complex tissue structures with precision
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical instrument incorporates sensors that detect the orientation and position of the jaw tip relative to the tissue, providing feedback to the control system. This feedback enables automatic adjustment of the jaw tip orientation to maintain optimal stapling contact, achieving high precision in navigating complex tissue structures while reducing the operational burden on the surgeon through automated control.
Solution Approach 2:
Manual mechanical articulation control is replaced with an automated control system that uses sensors and actuators to adjust the jaw tip orientation. This substitution of mechanical manual control with an automated electromechanical system achieves precise navigation of tissue structures while simplifying the ease of operation, as the system automatically adjusts without requiring complex manual manipulation.
3Reliability
If a surgical instrument uses a rotatable jaw tip with articulation controls, then precision and adaptability are enhanced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable jaw tip mechanism serves multiple functions: it maintains consistent stapling performance across varying tissue thicknesses, navigates complex tissue structures, and accommodates different tissue types. By designing a single multi-functional articulation system that handles all these requirements, the patent achieves reliable consistent stapling performance while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity compared to having separate mechanisms for each function.
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 instrument provides enhanced precision and adaptability, ensuring consistent stapling performance across different tissue types and thicknesses, reducing tissue trauma, and improving surgical efficiency by allowing for precise control over stapling and cutting.
Implementation Method 1
a handle with orientation sensors, magnetic elements, and articulation actuators
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical instrument comprising a first jaw and a second jaw is disclosed. At least one of the first and second jaws comprises a proximal portion and a distal tip rotatable relative to the proximal portion.