Steerable Instrument Rigidity Control for Safer Retraction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing minimally invasive medical procedures face challenges in controlling the rigidity of steerable instruments to prevent damage to patient tissues during retraction and insertion, necessitating a system that can adjust properties like rigidity in response to movement and user input.
Innovation Solution
A robotic system monitors movement and user input to determine operation modes, adjusting the rigidity of steerable instruments by maintaining, reducing, or increasing rigidity based on predefined profiles to ensure safe retraction and insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the rigidity of steerable instruments is increased to maintain structural stability during insertion, then the instrument can better withstand insertion forces, but the instrument may cause damage to patient tissues during retraction due to excessive rigidity
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adjusts the rigidity property of the steerable instrument based on real-time monitoring of movement and user input. During insertion, rigidity is increased to maintain structural stability, while during retraction, rigidity is reduced to prevent tissue damage. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between needing high rigidity for structural integrity and low rigidity to avoid tissue damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system changes the physical parameter of rigidity in response to different operational phases. By monitoring movement characteristics and user input, the system adjusts rigidity from high (during insertion) to low (during retraction), allowing the instrument to optimize its mechanical properties for each phase of the procedure and thereby resolve the contradiction between structural stability and tissue safety.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the rigidity of steerable instruments is decreased to reduce tissue damage during retraction, then patient safety is improved, but the instrument may lack structural stability during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs dynamic rigidity adjustment where the rigidity property is modulated in real-time based on the operational phase. During retraction, rigidity is decreased to minimize tissue damage, while during insertion, rigidity is increased to ensure structural stability. This temporal separation of rigidity levels resolves the contradiction between tissue safety and structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system performs preliminary adjustment of rigidity based on predicted operational needs. By monitoring user input and movement characteristics, the system pre-adjusts rigidity to appropriate levels before critical phases occur, ensuring both tissue safety during retraction and structural stability during insertion without compromising either requirement.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If real-time monitoring and adjustment of rigidity is implemented, then patient safety and tissue protection are enhanced, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback control by continuously monitoring movement and user input, then adjusting rigidity based on this feedback. The monitoring component detects operational phase and movement characteristics, while the control component adjusts rigidity accordingly. This closed-loop feedback mechanism enables automatic adaptation to prevent tissue damage while managing system complexity through integrated control algorithms.
Solution Approach 2:
The control system performs multiple functions through a single integrated architecture: monitoring movement, analyzing user input, determining operational phase, and adjusting rigidity. This multi-functional approach consolidates what could be separate complex subsystems into a unified control mechanism, reducing overall system complexity while achieving comprehensive safety monitoring and adaptation.
Data Source
AI summary
A method comprises monitoring movement of an elongate device and receiving user input commanding motion of the elongate device. The method also comprises determining a mode of operation based on at least one of the monitored movement or the received user input and adjusting a property of the elongate device based on a profile associated with the mode of operation. Adjusting the property of the elongate device includes maintaining the property of the elongate device substantially the same during a first interval, reducing a rigidity of the elongate device at a first rate during a second interval and reducing the rigidity of the elongate device at a second rate, different from the first rate, during a third interval.