Surgical Threading Device for Minimally Invasive Neck Lift
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional necklift procedures are invasive and often result in complications such as post-operative bleeding, nerve injury, and visible scarring, failing to adequately address the consequences of aging in the neck area, which leads to loss of elasticity and skin redundancy.
Innovation Solution
A minimally invasive Percutaneous Trampoline Platysmaplasty technique using a threading device with a suture permanently attached to an elongated rod, allowing for subcutaneous suture placement through small access sites without turning the rod, to create a support matrix under the skin, reducing the need for large incisions and extensive dissection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional necklift procedures are performed with extensive dissection and large incisions, then adequate support and tension restoration can be achieved, but significant complications including post-operative bleeding, nerve injury, and visible scarring occur
Solution Approach 1:
The procedure divides the neck into multiple treatment zones with separate suture placement at different levels (superficial and deep planes). Multiple small incisions are distributed across the neck rather than one large incision, allowing staged support restoration while minimizing trauma to any single area and reducing complication risks
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a layered suture system where deep plane sutures are placed first to provide foundational support, followed by superficial plane sutures that nest within the same surgical field. This nested approach allows comprehensive support restoration through multiple tissue planes without requiring extensive dissection of each individual layer
Solution Approach 3:
Absorbable sutures serve as temporary mediators that provide structural support during the healing process. These sutures act as scaffolds that maintain tissue tension and positioning while natural tissue remodeling occurs, then gradually dissolve as the neck achieves its final supported contour without permanent foreign material
2Reliability
If traditional suture placement methods are used requiring rod rotation and reinsertion, then complete suture threading can be achieved, but surgical time and procedural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The threading rod is designed with dynamic flexibility to bend and conform to the natural contours of the neck as it passes through subcutaneous tissue. This flexibility allows the rod to navigate anatomical curves and obstacles without requiring removal, rotation, or reinsertion, maintaining continuous forward progression and reducing surgical time
Solution Approach 2:
The threading rod transitions from a straight linear path to a three-dimensional curved path that follows the neck's anatomical contours. By adding spatial dimensionality to the rod's trajectory, the procedure accommodates complex neck geometry without requiring procedural interruption or rod manipulation
Data Source
AI summary
Described herein is a threading device that includes an elongated rod having first and second opposite ends, and a suture having first and second opposite ends. The first end of the suture is associated with the rod. The rod is at least partially covered with a coating that secures the first end of the suture to the rod. The second end of the suture extends outside the coating. This provides a threading rod having a suture permanently attached thereto.