Surgical Tool Attachment Assembly for Tool Tip Vibration Damping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing surgical instruments used for resecting bone tissue near sensitive areas, such as nerves, experience significant vibrations that can lead to imprecise procedures and user fatigue.
Innovation Solution
An attachment assembly for surgical tools that includes a damping member and adjustable geometry features to minimize vibrations, such as viscoelastic polymers and tailored thicknesses, to reduce tool tip chatter and improve precision.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a motorized resection tool is used to remove bone tissue near sensitive areas, then the productivity of tissue removal is improved, but vibrations are generated that reduce manufacturing precision and cause user fatigue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary damping member between the tool and the attachment assembly. This damping member acts as a mediator that absorbs and dissipates vibrations generated during motorized resection, allowing the high-speed tissue removal capability to be maintained while reducing the harmful vibrations that affect precision and cause user fatigue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful vibrations generated by the motorized tool into beneficial damping effects. By incorporating damping members with specific material properties and geometric configurations, the vibration energy is transformed into heat through internal friction, thereby reducing the amplitude of tool tip vibrations and improving resection precision without sacrificing productivity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the tool shaft is made longer to reach sensitive areas, then the adaptability to access deep structures is improved, but the tool becomes more prone to vibrations and less stable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material structures in the attachment assembly, combining rigid components for structural support with damping materials for vibration suppression. This composite approach allows the tool to maintain stability despite increased length, as the damping materials counteract the flexing and vibration that typically accompany longer shafts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent modifies physical parameters of the attachment assembly, including the thickness, length, and material properties of damping members. By carefully selecting and adjusting these parameters, the assembly achieves optimal vibration damping characteristics that compensate for the reduced stability inherent in longer tool configurations, enabling safe access to deep structures.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the attachment assembly is made more rigid to reduce vibrations, then the stability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional damping features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes flexible damping members with thin-walled structures that provide vibration damping without requiring bulky or complex components. These flexible elements are strategically positioned within the attachment assembly to target specific vibration modes, achieving enhanced stability through simple, space-efficient designs that minimize device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent divides the attachment assembly into segmented components, with damping members positioned at specific locations along the tool shaft. This segmentation allows vibrations to be addressed at their sources without requiring a complete redesign of the entire assembly, thereby improving stability through targeted modifications rather than comprehensive 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
The solution effectively reduces vibrations, ensuring precise and controlled resection of bone tissue, enhancing surgical accuracy and reducing user fatigue.
Implementation Method 1
damping members, thicknesses, and the like to minimize and/or reduce vibration at a tool tip
Implementation Method 2
minimize and/or reduce vibration at a tool tip and caused by the tool felt and received by a user
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is an assembly for holding a tool. The assembly may selectively reduce and/or eliminate vibrations received and felt by a user. Reducing vibrations may reduce or eliminate chatter at a working end of a tool.