Surgical Sizer Sound With Articulating Shaft for Valve Sizing
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for devices and methods that enable surgeons to operate more efficiently during minimally invasive heart valve replacement surgeries, reducing the time patients are on cardio-pulmonary bypass machines and minimizing surgical trauma through smaller access sites, to improve patient outcomes and reduce complications.
Innovation Solution
A surgical sizer sound with an articulating, angled shaft and a sizer coupler mechanism that allows for precise sizing of heart valves through small access holes, featuring a pivotable sizer coupler and adjustable sizers to accommodate anatomical variations, facilitating efficient valve replacement procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive techniques are used with smaller access holes, then patient trauma is reduced and recovery time is shortened, but surgical operation efficiency decreases and procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple functional segments: a sizer component for measurement, a coupler for connection, and a delivery catheter for access. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function while working together through a small access site, resolving the contradiction between minimal trauma and operational efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The sizer coupler acts as an intermediary component that connects the sizer to the delivery catheter. This intermediary mechanism enables precise control and measurement functions to be performed through the small access hole, maintaining surgical efficiency while minimizing patient trauma.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional surgical tools are used through small access holes, then minimally invasive benefits are achieved, but device manipulation and measurement precision are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The sizer coupler serves as an intermediary that transmits rotational movements from the external handler to the internal sizer component. This mechanical coupling enables precise angular control and measurement to be achieved through the small access hole, maintaining measurement precision while benefiting from minimally invasive access.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates rotational degrees of freedom that allow the sizer to be oriented at different angles within the heart valve. This dimensional freedom enables precise measurement in multiple orientations through a single small access site, resolving the contradiction between minimal trauma and measurement accuracy.
3Measurement precision
If valve replacement procedure time is extended, then accurate sizing and proper valve selection can be achieved, but patient exposure to bypass machine increases and complications rise
Solution Approach 1:
The sizer component performs preliminary measurement actions by being inserted into the heart valve annulus before valve replacement. The articulating mechanism allows the sizer to assume different orientations and make accurate measurements quickly, establishing the correct valve size early in the procedure to reduce overall bypass time.
Solution Approach 2:
The articulating sizer coupler provides dynamic adjustment capabilities, allowing the sizer to be rotated and positioned optimally for measurement. This dynamic mechanism enables rapid assessment of valve dimensions from multiple angles, achieving precise sizing efficiently and reducing the time the patient remains on the bypass machine.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical sizer sound, comprising an actuatable shaft. The surgical sizer sound also comprises an angled shaft coupled to the actuatable shaft. The surgical sizer sound also comprises a sizer coupler comprising a guide tip and a limit, pivotably coupled to the angled shaft and a sizer, removably coupled to the sizer coupler.