Rotating Tip Surgical Tool for Multi-Function Tissue Dissection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical tools typically serve a single function, limiting their effectiveness in procedures requiring multiple functions, such as tissue cutting and electrocautery, especially when distance between contact points increases, and they often require frequent removal and reinsertion during surgery, increasing the risk of injury and reducing efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A surgical tool with interchangeable configurations, including forceps and scissors, that can transition between these modes by rotating tips within their recesses, allowing for both electrocautery and cutting functions without needing to be removed from the surgical site, featuring a mechanism to switch between forceps and scissors configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single-function surgical tool is used, then the tool structure is simple, but the surgical efficiency decreases due to frequent tool changes
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical tool is designed with multiple functional configurations within a single device. The forceps configuration includes electrodes for electrocautery, while the scissors configuration provides cutting capability. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for frequent tool changes during surgery, thereby improving surgical efficiency without requiring multiple separate tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The surgical tool incorporates a rotatable tip mechanism that allows dynamic reconfiguration between forceps and scissors modes. The tips can rotate relative to the handles, transforming the tool's functional configuration during the procedure. This dynamic adaptability enables the surgeon to switch between cutting and electrocautery functions as needed, enhancing productivity while maintaining a single tool structure.
2Reliability
If multiple surgical tools are used for different functions, then each tool is optimized for its specific function, but the risk of injury increases due to frequent removal and reinsertion
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating both forceps and scissors functions into a single surgical tool, the invention eliminates the need to remove and reinsert different tools during surgery. The surgeon can perform both cutting and electrocautery procedures with one instrument, reducing the frequency of tool changes and thereby minimizing the risk of injury associated with repeated insertions and removals.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotatable tip mechanism allows the surgeon to switch between functional configurations without removing the tool from the surgical site. This dynamic reconfiguration capability maintains continuous presence of the tool, reducing the number of times the tool must be removed and reinserted, thus improving surgical safety while maintaining ease of operation.
3Productivity
If electrosurgical devices are used for tissue cutting, then hemostasis is achieved, but the cutting speed decreases compared to scissors
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical tool allows dynamic switching between scissors configuration for rapid tissue cutting and forceps configuration for electrocautery and hemostasis. When cutting speed is prioritized, the surgeon uses the scissors configuration. When hemostasis is needed, the surgeon switches to the forceps configuration with electrodes. This dynamic adaptability optimizes both cutting speed and hemostasis effectiveness depending on the surgical requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The single surgical tool provides both mechanical cutting capability (scissors configuration) and electrocautery capability (forceps configuration with electrodes). This universality allows the surgeon to select the appropriate function based on whether cutting speed or hemostasis is the priority, thereby achieving both high cutting speed when needed and effective hemostasis when required, without compromising either 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 tool enhances surgical efficiency and safety by allowing multiple functions in a single device, reducing the need for frequent tool changes and minimizing the risk of injury, while enabling effective tissue dissection and electrocautery without compromising usability or requiring removal from the surgical site.
Implementation Method 1
The first inner surface and the second inner surface are configured to abut each other during rotation of the first tip and the second tip within their respective recesses to transition the surgical tool between the first configuration and the second configuration
Implementation Method 2
Electrosurgical devices most commonly involve radiofrequency (RF) energy wherein a voltage gradient is produced between two points and current flows through the tissue, dissipating energy as heat
Implementation Method 3
the second tip comprises a pin extending from the second external surface, and rotation of the pin relative to the second handle causes rotation of the second tip relative to the second recess and transitions the surgical tool between the first configuration and the second configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Surgical tools and methods are disclosed. The surgical tool has a first tip disposed relative to an axis and a second tip. The surgical tool has a first configuration wherein the first and second tips operate as forceps. The surgical tool has a second configuration wherein the first and second tips operate as scissors, wherein the surgical tool is configured to transition between the first configuration and the second configuration, at least in part, by rotation of the first tip about the axis.