Tissue Deflecting Device with Adjustable Link Rigidity
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing lesions from internal organs are invasive, expensive, and often inaccurate, particularly for small lesions, as they require separate procedures for marking and removal, which can lead to tissue deterioration and organ failure if not addressed promptly.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with a plurality of links that can transition between a loose and compact configuration, allowing for navigation through tortuous pathways and precise tissue deflection, equipped with a light emitting component for illumination and a mechanism to maintain rigidity for effective lesion removal through a minimally invasive approach.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional open surgical procedure is used to remove lesions, then complete removal of undesirable tissue is achieved, but the procedure becomes highly invasive, expensive, and traumatic to the patient
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical system is divided into multiple independent components: an endoscope for visualization, a deflection device with adjustable links for tissue manipulation, and a separate removal tool. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally while minimizing overall invasiveness compared to traditional open surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflection device acts as an intermediary between the surgeon and the lesion. It translates surgeon input into precise tissue deflection movements, enabling controlled manipulation of the lesion without requiring direct manual access through large incisions, thus reducing patient trauma while maintaining effective lesion removal.
2Measurement precision
If endoscopic marking with dye is performed separately from lesion removal, then lesion location can be identified, but the marking does not always accurately reflect the lesion location and requires multiple visits
Solution Approach 1:
The system combines visualization, deflection, and removal functions into a single integrated procedure. The endoscope provides real-time visualization of the lesion, the deflection device enables precise positioning and manipulation, and the removal tool can immediately excise the lesion—all during one continuous procedure, eliminating the need for separate marking and removal visits.
Solution Approach 2:
The deflection device is positioned and the lesion is visualized and precisely located before removal begins. This preliminary positioning and visualization ensure accurate lesion identification and targeting, eliminating the need for prior dye marking procedures while maintaining precise lesion location accuracy.
3Strength
If a rigid device is used for tissue deflection, then effective tissue manipulation is achieved, but the device cannot navigate through tortuous pathways
Solution Approach 1:
The deflection device employs a dynamic structure with multiple links that can reciprocally move between locked and unlocked states. This allows the device to transition from a flexible configuration for navigating tortuous pathways to a rigid configuration for effective tissue deflection, combining both adaptability and strength in a single device.
Solution Approach 2:
The device uses a nested link structure where smaller links are contained within larger ones. When unlocked, the links can articulate to navigate curves; when locked, they form a rigid telescoping structure. This nested design enables the device to achieve both navigational flexibility and structural rigidity as needed.
4Length of moving object
If a telescoping link structure is used for the deflection device, then the device can extend and compress, but the links must be prevented from moving radially relative to one another
Solution Approach 1:
The link connections are designed with asymmetric features: slots in one link engage with pins in adjacent links at specific angles. This asymmetric geometry allows free movement in the longitudinal direction for telescoping while automatically preventing radial movement, achieving the required constraints without adding complex radial locking mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The link interfaces incorporate curved surfaces and rounded features that guide movement along the intended longitudinal path while naturally constraining radial displacement. The curved geometry of the slots and pins works together to permit axial telescoping while blocking radial motion through geometric constraint rather than additional mechanical components.
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 precise and minimally invasive removal of lesions by deflecting tissue, reducing the need for large incisions and improving visualization, thus addressing the limitations of existing methods while minimizing tissue damage and procedural complexity.
Implementation Method 1
a spring extending through the spring lumen, wherein the spring is biased into a longitudinally extended configuration that maintains the plurality of links in the loose configuration
Implementation Method 2
a light emitting component in the distalmost link of the plurality of links. The distalmost link may include a transparent material through which the light emitting component emits light
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device may include a plurality of links reciprocally movable between a loose configuration having a first rigidity and a compact configuration having a second rigidity greater than the first rigidity, wherein application of a force to a distalmost link of the plurality of links when the plurality of links are in the loose configuration causes the plurality of links to change orientation relative to one another, and application of the force to the distalmost link when the plurality of links are in the compact configuration does not cause the plurality of links to change orientation relative to one another.