Stapler Buttress Attachment Structure for Secure Slot-and-Catch Mounting
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical stapling instruments face challenges in efficiently and reliably attaching and removing buttress materials to secure staple lines, which are crucial for sealing and reinforcing thin or fragile tissues.
Innovation Solution
A surgical stapler with a handle assembly, elongate member, and end effector that includes a catch with elastic fingers and jaw members with projections, allowing secure attachment and easy removal of a buttress material through slots and protrusions, ensuring the material remains taut during insertion and manipulation within the body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional stapling methods are used without specialized attachment structures, then the device structure remains simple, but the reliability of buttress material attachment and ease of operation deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment system is divided into distinct components: the anvil with recesses and the buttress material with protrusions. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while working together to provide reliable attachment without requiring complex integrated structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions of the buttress material are designed to fit into recesses of the anvil, creating a nested attachment mechanism. This nested structure provides reliable attachment while maintaining simplicity, as the components fit together like nested dolls rather than requiring complex fastening systems.
2Ease of operation
If conventional stapling methods are used without specialized attachment structures, then the device structure remains simple, but the ease of attaching and removing buttress material deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The anvil is pre-configured with recesses and the buttress material is pre-formed with protrusions before the stapling procedure. This preliminary preparation allows for quick and easy attachment during surgery without requiring complex attachment mechanisms or time-consuming assembly steps.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of using complex fasteners to attach the buttress material to the anvil, the design inverts the approach by using simple geometric interlocking features (recesses and protrusions). This inverted simplicity achieves ease of operation without requiring complex attachment structures.
3Reliability
If buttress material is attached to secure staple lines, then the sealing and reinforcement effectiveness improves, but the device complexity and attachment difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The attachment system segments the sealing function from the stapling function, with the buttress material providing sealing and reinforcement while the staples provide mechanical fastening. This segmentation allows each component to perform its function effectively without requiring a complex integrated attachment system.
Solution Approach 2:
The protrusions of the buttress material nest into the recesses of the anvil, creating a secure attachment that ensures reliable staple line sealing. This nested configuration provides the necessary reliability for sealing effectiveness while maintaining attachment system simplicity.
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 solution enables secure, efficient attachment and removal of buttress materials, maintaining their integrity during stapling and tissue manipulation, thereby effectively sealing and reinforcing staple lines.
Implementation Method 1
The first and second fingers of the catch may be formed of an elastic material
Data Source
AI summary
An end effector of a surgical stapler includes first and second jaw members and a buttress material. The first jaw member is moveable relative to the second jaw member. The first jaw member includes a contact surface, a first projection, and a catch. The catch includes first and second fingers distal of the first projection. The second finger is biased toward the contact surface. The buttress material defines a longitudinal axis. The buttress material is releasably secured to the first jaw member. The buttress material defines first, second, and third slots formed therein. The first projection of the first jaw member is received in the first slot of the buttress material. The first finger of the catch is received in the second slot of the buttress material.