Surgical Sponge Assembly with Microcapillary Pipette
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical sponges become fully saturated quickly, requiring numerous sponges during a procedure and potentially compromising visibility and precision in delicate surgeries.
Innovation Solution
A surgical sponge assembly that includes a sponge support with a microcapillary pipette and a sponge portion impregnated with thrombin or other hemostatic agents, allowing for improved blood removal and extended visibility during surgeries.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If conventional sponges are used for blood removal, then they provide basic absorbency, but they become fully saturated quickly requiring many sponges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional components into a single integrated sponge assembly: the sponge body, microcapillary pipette, and hemostatic agents are merged into one unit. This allows the sponge to simultaneously absorb blood, deliver clotting factors, and maintain visibility, thereby reducing the total number of separate sponges needed while improving overall blood removal efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The sponge assembly uses composite material strategies by incorporating hemostatic agents (thrombin, fibrinogen, platelet-derived growth factor) within or on the sponge structure. This composite approach enhances the sponge's blood management capability beyond simple absorption, allowing a single sponge to perform multiple functions and reducing the quantity needed.
2Ease of operation
If conventional sponges are used, then they are simple in structure, but they compromise visibility and precision in delicate surgeries
Solution Approach 1:
The sponge assembly is designed as a multi-functional device that simultaneously provides blood absorption, hemostatic agent delivery, and visual contrast enhancement. By integrating these multiple functions into a single unit, the device improves ease of operation during delicate surgeries without requiring the surgeon to manage multiple separate tools, even though the individual sponge structure is more complex.
Solution Approach 2:
The microcapillary pipette acts as an intermediary component within the sponge assembly, serving as both a structural element and a delivery mechanism for hemostatic agents. This intermediary structure enables precise control over agent release while maintaining the sponge's primary absorption function, thereby supporting surgical precision without excessive complexity.
3Loss of time
If conventional sponges are used, then they provide basic absorbency, but they require frequent replacement affecting procedure time
Solution Approach 1:
The sponge assembly maintains continuous blood management capability through the integrated hemostatic agents that continue to promote clotting throughout the surgical procedure. The microcapillary pipette structure allows for sustained release of clotting factors, ensuring the sponge remains effective for blood removal and hemostasis for extended periods, thereby reducing replacement frequency and minimizing procedure time loss.
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 sponge assembly enhances blood removal efficiency, reduces the need for multiple sponges, and provides longer visibility due to the clotting agents, making it suitable for precise surgical procedures like ophthalmic and neurosurgeries.
Implementation Method 1
a microcapillary pipette wherein the pipette includes a bulb portion having a hollow interior bulb portion and an elongate body portion having a hollow interior body portion
Implementation Method 2
at least one sponge portion attached or coupled to the sponge support to cover at least a portion of the at least partial cavity
Implementation Method 3
a thrombin fluid or hemostatic agent is supplied within the hollow interior bulb portion or the hollow interior body portion
Data Source
AI summary
A sponge assembly including at least some of a pipette having a pipette bulb portion including a hollow interior bulb portion and an elongate pipette body portion including a hollow interior body portion, wherein the pipette extends from the pipette bulb portion to the pipette body portion, wherein the pipette body portion extends from the pipette bulb portion to an open terminal end having an aperture, wherein the aperture of the pipette terminal end allows fluid communication between the open pipette terminal end, the hollow interior body portion, and the hollow interior bulb portion; a sponge support defining an at least partial cavity, wherein the open pipette terminal end is in fluid communication with the sponge support cavity, via the pipette aperture; and at least one sponge portion attached or coupled to the sponge support to cover at least a portion of the at least partial cavity.