Rotating Blade Introducer for Trigger Finger Pulley Release
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing minimally invasive surgical techniques for treating trigger finger and carpal tunnel syndrome pose a risk of cutting non-target tissues and causing neurovascular injuries due to the lack of visualization during blade advancement.
Innovation Solution
A soft tissue cutting device and method that includes an introducer with a guiding channel and a rotating channel, which helps to safely advance and position a cutting blade relative to the target tissue, and optionally uses ultrasound visualization for precise placement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a surgical blade is advanced through a small incision to treat trigger finger or carpal tunnel syndrome, then the procedure is minimally invasive, but the risk of cutting non-target tissues and causing neurovascular injuries increases due to lack of visualization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an introducer device as an intermediary tool that is advanced through the small incision first, creating a protected pathway. The cutting blade is then advanced through this introducer, which acts as a mediator to guide and protect the blade during advancement, reducing the risk of accidentally cutting non-target tissues or neurovascular structures while maintaining the minimally invasive approach
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a hook blade is used to avoid cutting non-target tissues, then safety is improved, but the device becomes overly complex and awkward to use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the device into separate functional segments: an introducer portion for safe advancement and a cutting blade portion for tissue removal. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the introducer provides protection and guidance while the blade performs the cutting function, reducing overall device complexity compared to integrated designs
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using a complex hook blade design to prevent non-target tissue damage, the patent inverts the approach by using a simple, protected blade advancement system. The safety mechanism is inverted from the blade design itself to the introduction method, where the blade is protected by the introducer device during advancement, simplifying the overall device while maintaining safety
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the incision is made small for minimally invasive surgery, then patient trauma is reduced, but the blade cannot be visualized during advancement increasing the risk of unwanted tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The introducer device serves as a visual intermediary that can be tracked during advancement. By having the blade advanced through the introducer, the surgeon can visualize the introducer's progression (which may have markers or be palpable) to infer blade position, compensating for the lack of direct blade visualization through the small incision while maintaining minimal patient trauma
Data Source
AI summary
A method of cutting soft tissue in a hand to treat trigger finger involves advancing an introducer shaft into the hand to position a distal end of the introducer shaft beyond a pulley in a finger of the hand, advancing a blade along a guiding channel on an upper surface of the introducer shaft, to position a distal end of the blade at or near the distal end of the introducer shaft, and rotating a cutting surface of the blade to an orientation at or near perpendicular relative to the upper surface of the introducer shaft. The method further involves retracting the blade along the introducer shaft to cut the pulley and removing the introducer shaft and the blade from the hand.