Telescoping Shaft Length Adjustment for Endoscope Channel Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical devices with predetermined shaft lengths often fail to be compatible with different treatment sites or auxiliary medical devices, leading to operational failures and increased development and inventory costs.
Innovation Solution
Devices with an adjustable effective working length, featuring a telescoping shaft and locking assembly, allowing the shaft to extend beyond the distal end of the working channel by a predetermined distance, compatible with various endoscope channels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a medical device has a predetermined shaft length, then it can be designed to reach specific treatment sites and be compatible with specific auxiliary medical devices, but it cannot be used with different treatment sites or different auxiliary medical devices, leading to increased development and inventory costs
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft is divided into multiple telescoping segments that can extend and retract relative to each other. The distal section can be extended beyond the proximal section to provide different effective shaft lengths, allowing the same device to accommodate various endoscope channel lengths without requiring multiple device versions.
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft transitions from a fixed static structure to a dynamic telescoping structure. The effective length of the shaft can be adjusted during use by extending or retracting the distal section, enabling the device to adapt to different treatment sites and auxiliary devices while maintaining a compact form when retracted.
2Length of moving object
If a shaft extends too far distally out of a working channel, then it may reach treatment sites, but it cannot be imaged with ultrasound and the device becomes inoperable
Solution Approach 1:
The telescoping shaft allows dynamic adjustment of the extension distance. The distal section can be extended to the precise length needed to reach the treatment site while remaining within the ultrasound imaging range, and can be retracted if the extension becomes too long. This dynamic control ensures the shaft length is optimized for both reach and imaging compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The effective length parameter of the shaft can be changed by extending or retracting the telescoping sections. This allows the shaft length to be adjusted within a range that ensures proper imaging while still reaching the required treatment depth, resolving the conflict between extension distance and imaging reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple alternative medical devices with different architecture are designed to be compatible with different auxiliary medical devices, then compatibility is improved, but development and inventory costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
A single medical device design with a telescoping shaft can serve multiple functions and be compatible with different auxiliary medical devices such as various endoscope channels. This universal design eliminates the need to produce and inventory multiple device variants, reducing manufacturing complexity and costs while maintaining broad compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The telescoping shaft design allows one device to provide multiple effective lengths, replacing the need for multiple fixed-length devices. This segmentation approach enables a single product to fulfill the roles of what would otherwise require several different device architectures.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure relates to the field of medical devices. In particular, the present disclosure relates to devices with a shaft having an effective working length that is adjustable relative to a connector of the device and/or a working channel of an endoscope, and methods for their use, such as devices and methods for delivery of a stent.