Pre-alignment surgical cassette interface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical cassette alignment systems for phacoemulsification procedures in eye surgery often result in misalignment, leading to jamming, breakage, and poor performance due to inadequate alignment features, particularly with the cassette being inadvertently or deliberately mis-loaded into the console.
Innovation Solution
A phacoemulsification surgical console with a pre-alignment feature, such as a shelf, is introduced to facilitate proper alignment of the surgical cassette by guiding it into the cassette receiver, ensuring accurate alignment and secure clamping, and providing support for the cassette during insertion and ejection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional surgical cassette alignment systems are used without pre-alignment features, then the device complexity is reduced, but misalignment occurs leading to jamming and breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements pre-alignment features (alignment shelves and guide rails) that perform alignment actions before the cassette is fully inserted into the receiver. These features guide the cassette into proper position during the insertion process, preventing misalignment and jamming before they occur. The alignment shelf extends into the receiver to provide early guidance, and the guide rails constrain lateral movement during insertion.
2Manufacturing precision
If pre-alignment features such as shelves and guide rails are added to the cassette receiver, then alignment precision is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment system is divided into distinct functional components: alignment shelves that provide vertical positioning, guide rails that provide lateral constraint, and clamping mechanisms that secure the cassette. Each component performs a specific alignment function, making the overall system more manageable and easier to manufacture with precise tolerances distributed across multiple simpler parts rather than one complex integrated feature.
3Ease of operation
If the cassette is allowed to be freely inserted without guidance, then the ease of operation is improved, but misalignment and jamming occur
Solution Approach 1:
The alignment shelf and guide rails act as intermediary elements between the cassette and the receiver. These features mediate the insertion process by providing gradual guidance and constraint, allowing the cassette to be easily inserted while preventing misalignment. The shelf and rails translate the user's simple insertion action into precise alignment without requiring complex user manipulation.
Data Source
AI summary
A phacoemulsification surgical console, and a related system and method. The console, system and method may include a cassette receiver suitable for receiving a surgical cassette, a controller suitable for controlling provided aspects of the phacoemulsification; and a pre-alignment feature along a lower portion under and proximate to the cassette receiver, extending outwardly from the lower portion, and suitable for aligning the surgical cassette to the cassette receiver. The pre-alignment feature may comprise a shelf.