Surgical Entry Guide with Instrument Manipulator Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Surgical systems face challenges in inserting multiple instruments through a single entry port without damaging the instruments due to bending stresses, which can lead to improper operation and instrument damage.
Innovation Solution
An instrument manipulator positioning system that adjusts instrument mount interfaces to align shafts with entry guide channels, controlling bending stresses within a predetermined stress profile to prevent damage and ensure proper operation, allowing for the use of a common set of instruments with various entry guides.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If multiple instruments are inserted through a single entry port, then the number of incisions is reduced, but the instruments are subjected to bending stresses that can cause damage
Solution Approach 1:
An entry guide is introduced as an intermediary device between the single entry port and multiple instrument shafts. The entry guide provides separate channels that guide each instrument shaft through the single port, distributing and reducing bending stresses on individual instruments while maintaining the benefit of a single incision site.
Solution Approach 2:
The entry guide is segmented into multiple channels, each accommodating a separate instrument shaft. This segmentation allows each instrument to follow its own path through the entry guide, reducing the bending stress concentration that would occur if multiple instruments shared a single common path, thereby protecting instrument integrity.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a single entry port is used for multiple instruments, then patient trauma is reduced, but instrument operation may become improper due to bending
Solution Approach 1:
The entry guide acts as a mediator that preserves instrument operation reliability by providing dedicated channels for each instrument shaft. This ensures that each instrument can be properly inserted and operated without excessive bending, while still achieving the patient trauma reduction benefit of a single entry port.
Solution Approach 2:
Different channels within the entry guide are designed with specific local qualities (different orientations, curvatures, and path configurations) optimized for different instrument types. This allows each instrument to experience minimal bending stress appropriate to its specific requirements, maintaining operational reliability while using a single entry port.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different entry guides are used for different surgical procedures, then procedure-specific requirements are met, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The entry guide is designed with multi-functionality to accommodate different surgical procedures. By incorporating adjustable or reconfigurable channel configurations within a single entry guide device, the system can adapt to different instrument combinations and surgical requirements without requiring multiple different entry guide devices, thereby reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The entry guide incorporates dynamic or adjustable features that allow the channel configurations to be modified based on the specific surgical procedure being performed. This dynamic adaptability enables a single entry guide device to serve multiple procedures, reducing the need for multiple specialized devices and simplifying the overall system.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical system uses a single entry port in a wide variety of surgeries. To insert multiple surgical instruments into a patient through a single entry port requires that the shaft of at least one of the surgical instruments be bent between the base of the surgical instrument and the point where the shaft contacts a channel in an entry guide. Each surgical instrument is positioned by an instrument manipulator positioning system so that when the shaft is inserted in a channel of the entry guide, any bending of the shaft does not damage the surgical instrument and does not inhibit proper operation of the surgical instrument.