Staple Cartridge Extensions for Variable Tissue Thickness
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical stapling instruments face challenges in efficiently forming and deploying staples in tissue with varying thicknesses and types, leading to inconsistent staple formation and tissue cutting.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of staple cartridges with diverse configurations, including ridges, projections, and flexible materials, which enhance staple deployment and tissue engagement, allowing for better staple formation and tissue cutting across varying tissue conditions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a standard staple cartridge configuration is used, then the device structure remains simple, but staple formation consistency deteriorates when tissue thickness varies
Solution Approach 1:
The cartridge deck is equipped with multiple extensions (ridges, projections, barriers) at different locations, each with specific configurations tailored to engage with tissue of varying thicknesses. These localized structural variations allow different regions of the cartridge to adapt to local tissue conditions, ensuring consistent staple formation without requiring complete redesign of the entire cartridge structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The extensions on the cartridge deck are designed to be flexible or movable, allowing them to adapt dynamically to the actual tissue thickness encountered during surgery. This dynamic adjustment capability enables the cartridge to maintain effective engagement and staple formation consistency across varying tissue conditions without increasing overall device complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If extensions with different configurations are added to the cartridge deck, then adaptability to varying tissue thicknesses improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different extensions (ridges, projections, barriers) are strategically positioned at specific locations on the cartridge deck, each tailored to address particular tissue thickness scenarios. This localized approach provides adaptability to varying tissue conditions while avoiding the need to complicate the entire cartridge structure uniformly.
Solution Approach 2:
The multiple extensions on the cartridge deck serve multiple functions simultaneously: they engage tissue of varying thicknesses, guide staple formation, and maintain structural integrity. This multi-functionality achieves high adaptability without proportionally increasing device complexity, as single structural elements perform multiple roles.
3Reliability
If the cartridge deck is made more complex with multiple extensions, then tissue engagement improves, but manufacturing difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple extensions (ridges, projections, barriers) are integrated into a single cartridge deck structure, combining several tissue engagement functions into one unified component. This merging approach improves tissue engagement reliability while avoiding the manufacturing complexity of assembling multiple separate parts, as the extensions can be formed as integral features of the cartridge deck.
Data Source
AI summary
A fastener cartridge can include, one, a cartridge body comprising a deck and a plurality of fastener cavities and, two, a plurality of fasteners positioned in the fastener cavities. The cartridge body can further comprise extensions extending from the deck having different sizes and/or configurations. The extensions can control the flow of tissue relative to the deck and/or support the fasteners as they are ejected from the fastener cavities.