Surgical Closure Assembly for Vascular Transection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical stapling methods for vascular transection often result in staple punctures, leading to leaks and prolonged healing times, as staples form by punching through the vessel, making it difficult to locate and manage leaks.
Innovation Solution
A closure assembly with absorbable suture strips and a bridge member that cinches around the vessel using hook-shaped ends and locking apertures, minimizing vessel trauma and providing a smooth compression surface, while a firing bar cuts through the vessel between the cinched sutures, reducing leakage risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If surgical staplers use staples to achieve hemostasis during vascular transection, then sealing effectiveness is improved, but staple punctures through the vessel increase leakage risk and prolong healing time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the staple component from the vascular transection process entirely. Instead of using staples that puncture through the vessel, the invention employs a dedicated cutting device that separates the cutting function from the stapling function, thereby eliminating the harmful puncture effect while maintaining hemostasis through alternative means such as clamping or sealing without penetration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary cutting device that acts as a mediator between the stapler and the vessel. This dedicated cutting instrument performs the transection without causing staple punctures, allowing the stapler to focus solely on sealing and hemostasis while the intermediary handler manages the cutting action separately, thus reducing vessel trauma and leakage risk.
2Reliability
If staples are used to seal vessels, then hemostasis is achieved, but locating and managing leaks becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cutting function from the stapling mechanism, creating a separate dedicated cutting device. This separation allows for clearer visualization of the cutting site without interference from staple formation, making leak detection significantly easier while maintaining effective hemostasis through the stapling component alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The dedicated cutting device serves as an intermediary that facilitates better observation and detection of leaks. By performing cutting separately from stapling, it provides unobstructed access to the transection site, enabling easier visualization and management of any potential leaks while the stapler continues to provide reliable hemostasis.
3Productivity
If surgical staplers simultaneously sever and staple tissue, then procedural efficiency is improved, but vessel trauma increases due to staple formation through the cut tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the surgical instrument into distinct functional components: a stapling module for hemostasis and a dedicated cutting module for transection. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally without interfering with the other, thereby maintaining procedural efficiency while eliminating the vessel trauma caused by staple formation through freshly cut tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The dedicated cutting device acts as an intermediary that performs transection separately from the stapling action. This intermediary approach allows the stapler to apply staples to sealed tissue edges without the trauma of staple formation through actively cutting tissue, thereby reducing vessel trauma while maintaining the efficiency benefits of simultaneous cutting and stapling through coordinated operation.
Data Source
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AI summary
Surgical instruments and cartridges for cutting and fastening tissues and organs such as vessels are disclosed. In various non- limiting forms, the surgical instrument includes a first jaw that operably supports a substantially flexible elongated tissue closure assembly therein. A second jaw is movably supported relative to the first jaw and is selectively movable between open and closed positions in response to opening and closing motions applied thereto. A closure retraction assembly is configured to selectively apply cinching motions to the substantially flexible elongated tissue closure assembly.