Surgical Navigation Instrument Polyaxial Handle Locking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical instruments with flexible shafts lack a control mechanism for precise maneuverability and locking mechanisms to maintain desired curvature or angles, limiting their effectiveness in navigating complex surgical pathways.
Innovation Solution
A surgical navigation instrument featuring a hollow shaft with a flexible section, a handle that is polyaxially displaceable, and tensioning elements such as cables that allow the flexible section to bend and be locked in a desired configuration, enabling precise navigation and repeated access to treatment sites through tortuous pathways.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible shaft is used to improve maneuverability, then the instrument can navigate complex surgical pathways, but the instrument lacks precision control and cannot maintain desired curvature
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft is designed with a flexible section that can dynamically change its curvature and orientation in response to control inputs. The flexible section includes multiple articulation points that allow the shaft to adapt its shape while maintaining control through a cable system that translates handle movements into precise shaft configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
A cable system acts as an intermediary between the handle and the flexible shaft section. The cables transmit control forces from the handle to the shaft, enabling precise control of the flexible section's curvature and orientation without direct mechanical connection, thus maintaining both flexibility and control precision.
2Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible shaft is used to navigate tortuous pathways, then access to treatment sites is improved, but repeated navigation of each instrument is required
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible shaft can be pre-configured to a desired curvature and orientation before instrument insertion. Once the shaft is positioned and locked in the desired configuration, multiple different instruments can be advanced through the same pre-established pathway without requiring repeated navigation, significantly reducing procedure time.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft is divided into a rigid proximal section and a flexible distal section. The flexible section can be independently configured and locked, creating a stable guide pathway that remains fixed while allowing different instruments to be passed through, eliminating the need to re-navigate the pathway for each instrument.
3Ease of operation
If existing control mechanisms are used, then basic shaft manipulation is possible, but the shaft cannot be locked in a desired curvature or angle
Solution Approach 1:
The control mechanism includes a locking system that provides tactile and visual feedback to the operator. When the desired curvature is achieved, the locking mechanism engages to maintain that configuration, providing stable feedback that confirms the shaft is locked in position and will maintain its shape during instrument passage.
Data Source
AI summary
An instrument for navigating a surgical device includes a hollow shaft having a longitudinal axis and a distal end. The distal end of the hollow shaft includes a flexible section, a handle and an articulation surface positioned adjacent the handle. The handle is polyaxially displaceable against the articulation surface and relative to the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft. At least one tensioning element extends substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft. The at least one tensioning element is operable to bend the flexible section in response to polyaxial displacement of the handle relative to the longitudinal axis of the hollow shaft.