Sliding Shaft Surgical Instrument for Cleaning Without Disassembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical sliding-shaft instruments face challenges in reproducible reprocessing without disassembly, leading to potential damage and reduced stability due to tight guiding and costly manufacturing solutions like radial bores or widened grooves.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates axially spaced abutment points with concave edges and radial openings, allowing for cleaning and sterilization without disassembly, while maintaining stability through milled cutouts and crosspieces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If radial bores are created in the shaft to enable cleaning access, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but shaft stability is reduced and manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The continuous groove is segmented into discrete abutment points separated by radial openings. This segmentation allows cleaning fluid to access the groove through the openings while the abutment points maintain structural support. The groove is divided into multiple sections that can be independently accessed, enabling effective cleaning without compromising overall shaft stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the shaft have different properties: the abutment points provide localized structural support and guidance, while the radial openings provide localized cleaning access. The groove ground regions between abutment points are specifically designed to be accessible for cleaning, while other regions maintain full structural integrity. This local differentiation allows simultaneous optimization of cleaning accessibility and shaft stability.
2Ease of manufacture
If the longitudinal groove is widened by lateral milling to create cleaning access, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but shaft stability and manufacturing precision deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of continuously widening the groove which would compromise guiding precision, the groove is segmented into discrete abutment points. The radial openings are positioned at specific locations to allow cleaning fluid access without requiring continuous groove widening. This maintains the precision of the guiding surfaces while providing adequate cleaning access at critical locations.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of widening the groove in the lateral dimension (which would affect guiding precision), cleaning access is provided through radial openings in the radial dimension. This dimensional shift allows cleaning fluid to reach the groove from a different direction without compromising the lateral precision of the guiding surfaces. The concave edges further enhance this by creating flow channels that direct cleaning fluid along the groove.
3Manufacturing precision
If tight guiding is maintained for functional precision, then operational precision is improved, but reprocessability without disassembly deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tight guiding structure is segmented by introducing radial openings at abutment points. These openings are positioned to maintain guiding precision during operation while providing access pathways for cleaning fluid during reprocessing. The segmentation allows the guiding function to be preserved in critical areas while enabling cleaning access in other areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft design enables self-cleaning capability without disassembly. The radial openings and concave groove edges work together to allow cleaning fluid to flow through and contact all critical surfaces, including the tight guiding interfaces. This self-service cleaning capability maintains operational precision while enabling easy reprocessing.
4Ease of manufacture
If multiple radial bores are created along the shaft length, then cleaning coverage is improved, but manufacturing cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple discrete radial bores are merged into a unified groove structure with radial openings. The groove connects the radial openings and provides a continuous pathway for cleaning fluid along the shaft length. This merging reduces the number of separate features to manufacture while maintaining comprehensive cleaning coverage through the integrated groove-bores system.
Solution Approach 2:
The groove structure serves multiple functions simultaneously: it provides guiding surfaces for the slide, creates abutment points for structural support, and enables cleaning fluid distribution through its connection to radial openings. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate cleaning features, reducing overall shaft complexity while maintaining effective cleaning coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
A hand-held sliding shaft-type surgical instrument includes a shaft, in which a longitudinal groove is formed extending over the length of the shaft, and a slide, which is movably mounted in the longitudinal groove. Relative movement of the slide in the longitudinal groove is at least partly guided by at least one connecting piece that constricts the longitudinal groove in the width direction. The shaft has a cleaning recess in the region of the connecting piece in the longitudinal direction. The cleaning recess forms a radial through-opening that opens into the longitudinal groove from the groove base side.