Safety Needle with Blunt Stylet for Minimally Invasive Cavity Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional techniques for accessing internal body cavities, such as the abdominal and thoracic cavities, pose risks of injury due to blind needle insertion and require systemic anesthesia, making them invasive and inefficient, especially in emergency situations where minimally invasive and safe methods are needed.
Innovation Solution
A surgical system comprising a safety needle with a sharp outer cannula and a spring-loaded blunt stylet, along with a flexible sheath, which allows for precise penetration and protection of internal organs, enabling minimally invasive procedures without general anesthesia and reducing the risk of injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If blind needle insertion is used to access body cavities, then the procedure can be performed quickly and with minimal equipment, but the risk of injury to internal organs and tissues increases substantially
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a radiopaque guide wire as an intermediary tool that can be visualized under fluoroscopic guidance. The guide wire is inserted first through the needle into the body cavity under imaging guidance, allowing the operator to see its position and adjust before inserting the catheter. This intermediary step eliminates the need for blind needle insertion while maintaining procedural efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical blind needle insertion method with a radiologically guided system. Instead of relying on anatomical landmarks and tactile feedback alone, the system uses fluoroscopic imaging to visualize the needle, guide wire, and catheter positions in real-time, substituting mechanical blind insertion with image-guided precision.
2Ease of operation
If conventional laparoscopic techniques with pneumoperitoneum are used, then surgical access is established, but the risk of bowel or vascular injury and preperitoneal placement increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates radiopaque markers on the needle and catheter that are visible under fluoroscopic guidance. This provides real-time feedback to the operator about the position of these instruments relative to internal organs. The operator can see the needle tip approaching the peritoneal cavity, confirm proper placement, and adjust the position before catheter insertion, eliminating the need for pneumoperitoneum and associated risks.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If open trocar placement under direct visualization is used, then the risk of injury is reduced, but the procedure requires general anesthesia and more invasive access
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the need for general anesthesia and open surgical visualization with fluoroscopic image guidance. The real-time radiographic imaging provides visual feedback that substitutes for direct surgical visualization, allowing the procedure to be performed with local anesthesia or minimal sedation while maintaining safety through image-guided precision.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If radiographic guided methods are used to access the thoracic cavity, then tissue trauma is minimized, but the procedure requires special expertise, patient transfer, and costly imaging equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent designs a catheter insertion system that can be used in multiple settings - both in the operating room with fluoroscopy and in bedside emergency situations. The kit includes all necessary components (needle with radiopaque markers, guide wire, catheter) that can function with or without fluoroscopic guidance, making it universally applicable from complex OR procedures to simple bedside interventions.
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 system allows for safe and efficient access to body cavities with reduced tissue trauma, eliminating the need for general anesthesia and costly imaging, enabling procedures to be performed quickly and cost-effectively at the bedside or in emergency settings.
Implementation Method 1
an inner blunt, spring-loaded stylet that protrudes and protects internal organs and tissues from puncture or damage
Data Source
AI summary
The application discloses a set of surgical instruments that may be used to access a human or animal body cavity for medical purposes without causing damage to internal tissues or organs therein, and methods of using the same. The instruments include a safety needle and flexible sheath that may be coupled together and used to establish a minimally invasive method to access a targeted body cavity while preventing or reducing damage to organs or tissues within the targeted cavity. Additional instruments are included within the invention that may be used to establish an access port in the wall of the targeted cavity. That port may be used to introduce catheters or other instruments into the body cavity. It may also be used as a drainage tube for draining or injecting gases and/or fluids from or into the targeted cavity.