Tin Plate Retractor for Flexible Endoscopic Incision Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current retractors for small-incision endoscopic surgery face challenges in ensuring a flexible and adjustable surgical field, are difficult to maneuver and remove, and burden surgical assistants with high labor costs.
Innovation Solution
A retractor with a thin, flexible tin base body of high purity, capable of being bent and deformed into various shapes to securely hold surgical incisions open, featuring anti-slip protrusions and helical protrusions for easy manipulation and retrieval.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a retractor with a plate-shaped body is rounded into a small cylinder and inserted into a surgical incision, then the retractor can be inserted through small incisions, but it becomes difficult to maneuver and remove the retractor
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor is divided into multiple arc-shaped segments that can move relative to each other. The segments are connected by rotationally movable connection portions, allowing the retractor to change its overall shape from a compact insertion form to an expanded surgical field form, and back again for easy removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The retractor employs dynamic segments that can rotate and expand/contract. The connection portions between segments allow rotational movement, enabling the retractor to adapt its shape dynamically - compact for insertion, expanded for surgical use, and collapsible for removal.
2Area of stationary object
If a retractor is expanded in the surgical incision to widen the surgical field, then the surgical field is ensured, but the retractor cannot be flexibly adjusted to different surgical sites and situations
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor consists of multiple independent arc-shaped segments that can be individually positioned and oriented. This segmentation allows the retractor to adapt to different surgical site geometries and expand in various directions to create customized surgical fields.
Solution Approach 2:
The dynamic rotation capability of the segments enables the retractor to be adjusted flexibly to match different surgical site requirements. Each segment can be rotated independently to optimize the surgical field configuration for specific surgical needs.
3Ease of operation
If a surgical assistant performs manual traction to hold the incision open, then the surgical field is ensured, but the labor cost and surgical complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor is designed as a self-retaining device that maintains the surgical field open without requiring continuous manual traction by surgical assistants. The expansion mechanism and segment configuration allow the retractor to hold itself open passively, eliminating the need for assistant intervention.
4Ease of operation
If a retractor is made with high flexibility for easy deformation, then the retractor can be easily inserted and shaped, but the retractor may lack sufficient strength to hold the incision open
Solution Approach 1:
The retractor utilizes a composite structure combining a shape memory alloy base material with surface-mounted protrusions. The shape memory alloy provides both flexibility for deformation and sufficient strength for holding, while the protrusions enhance grip on tissue without requiring increased structural 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 flexible and adjustable surgical field management, reduces assistant burden, and facilitates easy insertion and removal through small incisions, lowering surgery costs.
Implementation Method 1
a shape memory alloy that has a shape memory property at a living-body temperature (about 37°C) is formed into a plate shape, and then, the resultant shape memory alloy is caused to memorize a cylindrical shape with a large outer diameter
Implementation Method 2
The retractor expands due to elastic force in the surgical incision, thereby widening the surgical incision
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
This retractor easily ensures a surgical field as desired by an operator, can flexibly ensure and change the surgical field in accordance with the surgical site and the surgical situation, and can easily be moved to a desired position in the surgical site and taken out after the surgery. A retractor 1 holds a surgical incision in a body in an opened state to ensure a surgical field in small-incision endoscopic surgery, and includes a base body 2 that is a thin plate made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9% and has an elongated rectangular shape in an extended state of the base body. The retractor 1, in an extended form in a rectangular shape or in a rounded form in a small shape, can be inserted from a small incision wound into the body, and can easily be delivered to the surgical incision in the body by a surgical instrument. The base body 2 is bent and deformed into a desired shape by the surgical instrument and is applied to the surgical incision in the body, so that the surgical incision can be held in an opened state so as to ensure the surgical field. The base body 2 is made of tin having a purity of not less than 99.9%, and thus the base body 2 has a high flexibility in particular, thereby allowing the base body 2 to be easily bent and deformed into a desired form by use of the surgical instrument.