Steerable Instrument with Amplifier and Attenuator Regions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current steerable instruments for minimally invasive surgery face challenges in navigating through narrow spaces due to their rigid structure, limiting their ability to maneuver effectively in confined areas such as during endovascular procedures or gastrointestinal endoscopies, where multiple bends are required to follow vessel branches or intestinal paths.
Innovation Solution
A longitudinal steerable tool with a bendable proximal and distal part, featuring a shaft region with a proximal amplifier region and distal attenuating region, where longitudinal members are arranged around a fictive tube with size-decremental and size-incremental plane sections, allowing for movement amplification and reduced diameter, enabling omni-directional movement and flexibility through narrow openings.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If the shaft region is made rigid to maintain structural stability, then the instrument can maintain its shape and provide stable operation, but the instrument cannot navigate through narrow spaces and make multiple bends
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft region is divided into multiple discrete longitudinal members (110) that can independently bend relative to each other. These segmented members are arranged around a fictive tube and connected through joints that allow angular displacement, enabling the shaft to navigate complex pathways while maintaining overall structural integrity through the coordinated movement of individual segments.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft region transitions from a static rigid structure to a dynamic flexible structure where the longitudinal members can change their relative positions. The members are designed to be flexible in the radial direction while maintaining strength, allowing the instrument to adapt its shape for navigation while preserving structural stability during operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the shaft region is made flexible to enable bending and navigation, then the instrument can maneuver through narrow spaces, but the instrument loses structural stability and becomes difficult to control
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the shaft exhibit different mechanical properties. The longitudinal members are designed with varying flexibility characteristics along their length, with certain sections having enhanced radial flexibility for navigation while maintaining axial rigidity for control. The fictive tube provides localized structural support where needed while allowing flexibility in other regions.
Solution Approach 2:
The longitudinal members are constructed using composite material structures that combine materials with different mechanical properties. This allows the shaft to exhibit both flexibility for bending and sufficient structural stability for control, with the composite construction providing enhanced strength-to-flexibility ratio.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple longitudinal members are arranged around the fictive tube to enable omni-directional movement, then the instrument achieves enhanced maneuverability, but the diameter of the shaft region increases
Solution Approach 1:
The longitudinal members are arranged in a nested configuration around the fictive tube, with members positioned concentrically to minimize the overall diameter. The members can be stacked or layered in a compact arrangement that allows omni-directional movement capability while maintaining a small profile suitable for passing through narrow incisions and body lumens.
4Volume of moving object
If the longitudinal members are arranged closely to reduce shaft diameter, then the instrument can pass through narrow openings, but the members cannot maintain constant circumferential and radial positions
Solution Approach 1:
The fictive tube serves as an intermediary structure around which the longitudinal members are arranged. This central reference structure provides a stable framework that helps maintain the circumferential and radial positions of the members even when they are closely spaced. The fictive tube acts as a mediator that organizes the members in a stable configuration while allowing the overall shaft diameter to remain small.
Data Source
AI summary
A longitudinal steerable tool (100) having a proximal (20) and distal (40) end comprising a sub-region that is a proximal amplifier region, PAR, (136) wherein the LMs (110) are arranged around a fictive tube (180) exhibiting size-decremental plane sections in a distal direction, and comprising a sub-region that is a distal attenuating region, DAR, (138) wherein the LMs (110) are arranged around a fictive tube (180) exhibiting size-incremental plane sections in a distal direction. Further provided is a longitudinal steerable tool (100) having a sheath unit (430) disposed at least partially over each of a bendable proximal part (130) and/or bendable distal part (134), the sheath unit (430) having less compliance in a radial direction compared with in an axial direction.