Assessment Indicators for Automated Surgical Tissue Deformation Analysis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for simulating and evaluating medical procedures on tissue models lack the ability to automatically and quantitatively assess the effect on the tissue, such as tissue tension or tearing, and require human observation for performance evaluation.
Innovation Solution
A system and method using assessment indicators or sensors that provide automatic feedback through image analysis or sensor output, including dye-impregnated capsules that release dye at a pre-specified pressure, and cameras to determine force and deformation on a tissue model, enabling objective performance scoring.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Extent of automation
If instrument tracking is used to evaluate surgical performance, then automated assessment is partially achieved, but the ability to recognize tissue effects such as tension or tearing is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces assessment markers as intermediary elements that are applied to or embedded in the tissue model. These markers serve as mediators between the surgical instruments and the evaluation system, enabling automated detection of tissue effects. The markers change state or position in response to tissue deformation, tension, or tearing, providing quantifiable data that the automated system can analyze without requiring direct tissue effect recognition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces direct mechanical observation of tissue effects with an optical/electronic detection system. Instead of using sensors that directly measure tissue tension or deformation, the system uses image-capturing devices to monitor the state of assessment markers. This substitution allows automated detection of tissue effects through visual analysis of marker changes, maintaining measurement precision while enabling full automation.
2Measurement precision
If trainers observe procedures manually to evaluate performance, then detailed tissue effect assessment is possible, but automated feedback and objective scoring are lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an automated feedback loop where the evaluation system continuously monitors assessment markers during the surgical procedure, analyzes the data in real-time, and provides immediate feedback to the trainee. The system processes images of the markers, compares observed tissue effects against expected outcomes, and delivers objective performance scores and corrective guidance automatically, eliminating the need for continuous trainer observation while maintaining evaluation accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The evaluation system performs self-assessment by automatically analyzing its own collected data from assessment markers. The system processes the visual information, determines tissue effects, generates performance scores, and provides feedback without requiring external human intervention. This self-service capability enables fully automated objective evaluation while preserving the precision that would otherwise require manual trainer assessment.
3Measurement precision
If multiple sensors are added to detect tissue effects, then measurement capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs assessment markers that serve multiple detection functions simultaneously. A single marker system can detect various tissue effects including tension, compression, tearing, and deformation by analyzing different aspects of marker behavior (position, shape, orientation, color changes). This multi-functional approach enables comprehensive tissue effect measurement using a unified system rather than requiring separate specialized sensors for each type of detection, thereby reducing overall device complexity.
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
Enables automatic, quantitative assessment of medical procedures, providing objective feedback on performance and allowing for tracking of improvement over time, without the need for human observation, and simulates realistic tissue behavior by detecting tissue tension and deformation.
Implementation Method 1
a marker material comprising dye-impregnated or dye-infused capsules that release the dye at a pre-specified pressure or force to provide an indication of when a threshold pressure or force is being applied to the tissue model
Implementation Method 2
one or more cameras to view and record a tissue model in real time in order to determine the force being exerted on the tissue model based on known physical characteristics of the tissue model, such as the dynamic modulus, Young's modulus, the elastic modulus
Implementation Method 3
The system and method can also be configured to determine internal pressure buildup due to the calculated applied force and the deformation of the tissue model
Data Source
AI summary
A system for assessing performance of a procedure comprises a tissue model or a tool comprising assessment indicators applied thereto, one or more image-capturing devices for capturing one or more assessment images of the assessment indicators while or after a user performs the medical procedure, and a processor configured to analyze the assessment indicators in the one or more assessment images and provide feedback to the user. A system can also comprise a tissue model, one or more image-capturing devices each configured to capture one or more images of the tissue model, and a processor configured to analyze the one or more images from the one or more image-capturing devices to determine a deformation of the tissue model and determine a force exerted on the tissue model based on the determined deformation of the tissue model.