Surgical Adapter Assembly for Reliable Drive and Electrical Coupling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing adapter assemblies for electromechanical surgical devices face challenges in ensuring reliable and repeatable mechanical and electrical connections, which can lead to inconsistent performance and increased complexity in surgical systems.
Innovation Solution
The adapter assembly includes a housing with an outer tube and a force/rotation transmitting/converting assembly that connects the surgical device's rotatable drive shafts to the loading unit's axially translatable drive members, along with an electrical assembly featuring a circuit board and connector pins for secure electrical connections, ensuring robust interconnection and efficient transmission of forces and rotations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an adapter assembly is used to interconnect electromechanical surgical devices with surgical loading units, then mechanical and electrical connections are established, but the complexity of the adapter assembly increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter assembly is divided into distinct functional modules: a housing structure, a drive interface assembly with drive shafts, a loading unit interface with axially translatable drive members, and an electrical assembly with circuit board and connectors. This segmentation allows each module to be optimized independently while maintaining overall reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrical assembly is nested within the adapter housing, with the circuit board and electrical connectors integrated into the existing mechanical structure. The drive interface assembly is nested within the housing, allowing multiple functions to coexist in a compact configuration without proportionally increasing overall complexity.
2Reliability
If multiple drive shafts and drive members are interconnected, then force and rotation transmission is achieved, but the mechanical connection complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter assembly provides universal interfacing capabilities by accommodating multiple drive shaft configurations and corresponding axially translatable drive members through a standardized housing structure. This multi-functional design allows the same adapter to handle various surgical loading units without increasing connection complexity for each specific case.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter housing serves as an intermediary structure that mediates between the surgical device's rotatable drive shafts and the loading unit's axially translatable drive members. This intermediary contains the conversion mechanism that transforms rotational motion to axial translation, isolating the complexity of the motion conversion from both the surgical device and loading unit interfaces.
3Reliability
If electrical connectors with multiple contact pins are used, then electrical connections are established, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The electrical connector assembly is merged with the mechanical housing structure, where the circuit board is mounted within the housing and the electrical contact pins are integrated into the connector housing. This combining of electrical and mechanical assemblies reduces the total number of separate components and simplifies the manufacturing process while maintaining reliable electrical connections.
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
This solution provides a reliable and efficient means of interconnecting electromechanical surgical devices and loading units, enhancing the consistency and reliability of surgical operations by ensuring secure mechanical and electrical connections, thereby improving the performance and usability of surgical systems.
Implementation Method 1
a force/rotation transmitting/converting assembly for interconnecting a respective one drive shaft of the surgical device and a respective one axially translatable drive member of the loading unit
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to adapter assemblies for use with and to electrically and mechanically interconnect electromechanical surgical devices and surgical loading units, and to surgical systems including hand held electromechanical surgical devices and adapter assemblies for connecting surgical loading units to the hand held electromechanical surgical devices.