Surgical Fluid Dispensing Instrument with Priming Safety Interlock
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical instruments for dispensing fluids lack a mechanism to prevent accidental operation, which can lead to undesirable fluid dispensing, such as adhesive contacting unintended tissue.
Innovation Solution
A surgical instrument with a priming assembly that must be operated to prime the dispensing shaft with fluid before the dispensing assembly can be used, ensuring fluid is only dispensed when intended, featuring a housing, elongate dispensing shaft, dispensing chamber, and a trigger mechanism with a safety interlock to prevent accidental operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a surgical instrument is designed with a simple dispensing mechanism, then ease of operation is improved, but the risk of accidental fluid dispensing increases
Solution Approach 1:
The priming assembly requires the user to perform a preliminary action (operating the priming mechanism) before the dispensing shaft is filled with fluid. This preliminary step ensures that the shaft is only primed when intentionally prepared, preventing accidental dispensing while maintaining simple operation during actual use
2Reliability
If a priming assembly is added to prevent accidental dispensing, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The dispensing system is segmented into two independent assemblies: a priming assembly for filling the dispensing shaft and a dispensing assembly for delivering fluid. This segmentation allows each assembly to be optimized independently, with the priming assembly providing safety functionality without complicating the simple trigger-based dispensing mechanism
3Reliability
If the dispensing shaft is kept empty until use, then accidental dispensing is prevented, but the time required for preparation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The priming assembly is designed to be quickly operated by the user, who simply activates the priming mechanism to fill the dispensing shaft in seconds. The system does not require complex automated preparation or extended setup time, making the priming process efficient and practical for surgical use
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical instrument for dispensing a fluid includes a housing and a dispensing shaft, which is elongate and which has a proximal end and a distal end. The proximal end of the dispensing shaft is received in the housing and the distal end defines a dispensing opening for dispensing the fluid. The dispensing shaft includes a through bore which extends along the dispensing shaft from the proximal end to the dispensing opening at the distal end. The instrument further includes a dispensing assembly and a priming assembly connected to the housing which is operable to move an amount of the fluid into the through bore of the dispensing shaft to prime the through bore with the fluid before the dispensing assembly is operated.