Surgical Stapling Assembly Buttress Attachment Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical instruments face challenges in properly aligning and attaching buttress material to end-effectors, particularly due to the risk of immediate adhesion with adhesives, leading to inefficiencies in surgical procedures.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of features such as friction-fit, press-fit, snap-fit, and resilient members on the end-effector and buttress material, along with unactivated adhesives that require activation, to facilitate easy alignment and secure attachment of the buttress material.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adhesive is used to attach buttress material to jaw members, then secure retention is achieved, but alignment difficulty increases and time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive is applied to the jaw member surface before the surgeon attempts to attach the buttress material. This preliminary application allows the adhesive to be ready and waiting, so when the buttress material is positioned, it immediately bonds without requiring additional alignment adjustments or repositioning attempts.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive acts as an intermediary substance between the jaw member and the buttress material, creating a bonding interface that secures the attachment. This intermediary layer allows for reliable retention while the surgeon can still position and align the components during the bonding process.
2Reliability
If adhesive is used to attach buttress material to jaw members, then secure retention is achieved, but time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The adhesive is pre-applied to the jaw member surface, so when the buttress material needs to be attached, the bonding agent is already in place and ready to bond immediately. This eliminates time spent on application and positioning adjustments, reducing overall attachment time while maintaining secure retention.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive bonding process allows the surgeon to quickly attach the buttress material in a single motion without needing to make multiple positioning attempts or use additional fastening steps, thereby rushing through the attachment process efficiently while ensuring secure retention.
3Reliability
If multiple pieces of buttress material are attached to both jaw members, then tissue support is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The buttress material is divided into multiple separate pieces that can be independently attached to different jaw members. This segmentation allows each piece to be positioned and attached separately using the simple adhesive method, providing comprehensive tissue support without requiring a complex integrated attachment system.
Solution Approach 2:
The adhesive attachment method serves as a universal solution for attaching multiple pieces of buttress material to both jaw members. This single attachment method can be applied repeatedly to multiple components, providing extensive tissue support while maintaining simplicity and avoiding the need for different attachment mechanisms for different pieces.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the efficiency of buttress material attachment, reducing the time and effort required for surgeons to position and align the material, while ensuring secure retention during surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a resilient member can be provided which can be configured to contact a portion of the piece of buttress material and releasably retain the piece of buttress material to the end-effector
Implementation Method 2
the piece of buttress material can be attached to one of the jaw members using an adhesive configured to releasably retain the piece of buttress material thereto
Data Source
AI summary
A piece of buttress material and an end-effector of a surgical instrument including features which can aid a surgeon in properly and quickly attaching the piece of buttress material to the end-effector. In various embodiments, a piece of buttress material can include retention features which can be engaged with portions of an end-effector to releasably retain the piece of buttress material to at least a portion of the end-effector. Similarly, an end-effector can include features configured to engage portions of a piece of buttress material to releasably retain the piece of buttress material to the end-effector. In at least one embodiment, more than one piece of buttress material can be releasably retained to an end-effector.