Surgical Access Seal Assembly With Guarded Multi-Petal Sealing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical access assemblies face challenges in providing robust and durable seals that can accommodate various sizes of surgical instrumentation, including those with sharp edges, which can tear or damage existing seals, compromising their durability and effectiveness during minimally invasive surgery.
Innovation Solution
The access assembly incorporates a valve assembly with a guard assembly and seal assembly, featuring a support ring, guard sections, and a centering mechanism, along with a seal assembly comprising proximal, intermediate, and distal seal members, designed to maintain the seal's centered position and protect it from damage during instrument insertion and withdrawal, utilizing a multi-petal configuration and retainer pins to secure the assemblies in place.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a robust seal is used to accommodate various surgical instrumentation, then the adaptability is improved, but the seal is more susceptible to tearing from sharp edges
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly is divided into multiple seal members (first seal member, second seal member, third seal member) arranged in series. Each seal member can independently deform and accommodate instruments of different sizes and shapes, while the segmented structure prevents a single point of failure from compromising the entire seal, thereby resolving the contradiction between adaptability and durability.
2Ease of operation
If the seal assembly is made flexible to accommodate instrument movement, then the ease of operation is improved, but the seal may lose positional stability
Solution Approach 1:
The seal assembly merges flexible seal members with a rigid support ring and centering mechanism. The flexible seal members accommodate instrument movement, while the support ring provides structural stability and the centering mechanism maintains proper positioning, thus combining flexibility and stability to resolve the contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The support ring acts as an intermediary between the flexible seal members and the rigid valve housing. It transmits and distributes forces, allowing the seal members to remain flexible for ease of operation while maintaining overall positional stability through the rigid support structure.
3Reliability
If multiple seal members are used to improve durability, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Each seal member is designed to perform multiple functions: sealing against the valve housing, accommodating instrument insertion, and protecting adjacent seal members from damage. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional specialized components, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing complexity.
Data Source
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AI summary
Access assemblies include an instrument valve housing and a valve assembly disposed within the cavity of the instrument valve housing. The valve assembly includes a guard assembly, a seal assembly disposed adjacent to the guard assembly, and a centering mechanism for maintaining the seal assembly and guard assembly centered within a cavity of the instrument valve. The guard assembly includes a support ring and a plurality of guard sections disposed distally of the support ring. The seal assembly includes a proximal seal member, an intermediate seal assembly, and a distal seal member, the intermediate seal assembly including a plurality of seal sections in a stacked configuration