Sphincter Plication Tool for Minimally Invasive Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical methods for repairing dysfunctional sphincter muscles are invasive, difficult to control in terms of muscle shortening, and often ineffective due to the complexity of exposing and manipulating the muscle during surgery, leading to risks and high costs.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive plication technique that uses a tool to internally engage and shorten the sphincter muscle, forming a loop or pleat without external incisions, allowing for precise adjustment and fixation of the muscle length through an intra-cavity approach, reducing the need for extensive surgery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional surgical sphincteroplasty is performed to repair dysfunctional sphincter muscle, then the muscle can be shortened and reconnected, but the procedure becomes invasive requiring incisions and surgical exposure, increasing infection risk and recovery complexity
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of exposing the sphincter muscle externally through incisions to perform shortening, the invention inserts a tool through the luminal opening (anus or urethra) to perform the shortening internally. This inverts the traditional surgical approach by accessing the muscle from the inside rather than the outside, eliminating the need for incisions and surgical exposure while maintaining the ability to shorten and repair the muscle effectively
Solution Approach 2:
A specialized tool with pins acts as an intermediary device to facilitate the shortening procedure. The tool is inserted through the luminal opening, engages the sphincter muscle internally using pins, and enables controlled shortening without requiring direct surgical exposure. This intermediary tool bridges the gap between the need for effective muscle shortening and the desire to avoid invasive surgery
2Ease of manufacture
If the sphincter muscle is surgically exposed for shortening, then the procedure can be performed, but the extent of muscle shortening becomes difficult to determine accurately because the muscle is in a non-functioning condition
Solution Approach 1:
The tool is inserted and positioned while the sphincter muscle is still in its functional state, before any shortening occurs. This allows the surgeon to visually assess and determine the precise extent of shortening needed while the muscle is functioning normally, ensuring accurate measurement and control of the shortening extent before the actual shortening procedure begins
3Reliability
If traditional sphincteroplasty surgery is performed, then muscle repair can be achieved, but the procedure requires extensive surgical resources, operating room time, and post-operative care
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential function of sphincter shortening from the complex surgical procedure. By using a simple tool that can be inserted through the luminal opening to perform internal shortening, the procedure removes the need for complex surgical exposure, incisions, and extensive operating room resources, while still achieving the core therapeutic goal of muscle shortening and function restoration
Data Source
AI summary
A dysfunctional sphincter muscle may be treated by shortening the muscle to plicate it and restore its functionality. Plicating the sphincter muscle as described effectively shortens the muscle and permits the muscle to perform its function of closing off the body passage or opening with which it is associated without conventional surgery to expose the sphincter muscle and shorten it. Thus, treatment for incontinence can be achieved by shortening the associated sphincter muscle without surgery that exposes the muscle itself and requires the surgeon to manually grab hold of the muscle and shorten it.