Suture Passing Instrument with Multi-Channel Jaw and Ratcheting Needle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current surgical instruments for passing sutures through tissue in endoscopic procedures require frequent withdrawal from the surgical site to reload sutures, making it inefficient for quickly and accurately passing multiple sutures, especially in minimally invasive procedures.
Innovation Solution
A suture passing instrument with an elongated tubular member and a tip configured to load multiple flexible strands, allowing independent passage of sutures without needing to remove the instrument from the surgical site, utilizing a bendable needle and ratcheting mechanism for efficient suture advancement and retraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single suture instrument is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the productivity decreases due to repeated withdrawal and reloading
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument divides the suture passing function into multiple independent channels, each capable of carrying and passing a suture separately. This segmentation allows multiple sutures to be passed without withdrawing the instrument, resolving the contradiction between productivity and device complexity by organizing multiple functions within a unified multi-channel structure
Solution Approach 2:
The instrument is designed with multiple identical channels that can each independently perform suture passing operations. This multi-functionality allows a single instrument to replace multiple single-suture instruments, improving productivity while maintaining manageable device complexity through standardized repetitive design
2Adaptability or versatility
If the instrument is withdrawn to reload sutures, then the suture configuration can be changed, but the time consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple sutures are pre-loaded into the instrument's channels before entering the surgical site. This preliminary action eliminates the need for repeated withdrawal and reloading during the procedure, significantly reducing time loss while maintaining adaptability through the ability to select different suture combinations during the initial loading phase
Solution Approach 2:
The instrument maintains continuous presence in the surgical site with all suture channels ready for immediate use. This continuity eliminates interruptions caused by withdrawal and reloading, ensuring that the useful action of suture passing can proceed without time-consuming breaks, while adaptability is preserved through the pre-configured multi-suture capability
Data Source
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Figure 4(a)
AI summary
An instrument for passing multiple sutures in tissue repair and/of other mini-open procedures. The instruments includes a pair of jaws mounted on a distal end of a shaft, a hand assembly mounted on a proximal end of the shaft, and a needle mounted on the hand assembly and passing through a cannulation of the shaft. The pair of jaws includes a lower jaw and an upper jaw, the lower jaw being provided with a slot configured to sequentially engage multiple sutures inserted into the instrument. The handle assembly has a cam mechanism and a finger lever with a ratchet, and a releases with a hook, the handle assembly being designed to move the needle from a first position to a second position, and to thereby sequentially capture, in the needle, each of the multiple sutures inserted in the instrument, for subsequent passing though tissue,