Tissue Manipulation Device With Living-Hinge Arms for Prostate Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
During prostatectomy procedures, particularly laparoscopic prostatectomies, the prostate gland is difficult to position and maneuver, and there is a risk of damaging adjacent neurovascular bundles, necessitating precise tissue manipulation and easy sterilization of surgical instruments.
Innovation Solution
A tissue manipulation device with an end effector assembly featuring adjustable tissue engaging arms that can be deployed and undeployed through a urethra, allowing precise manipulation of the prostate, and a removable design for easy cleaning and sterilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional surgical instruments are used for prostatectomy, then the procedure can be performed, but the prostate is difficult to position and maneuver and there is risk of damaging neurovascular bundles
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into distinct segments including a handle portion, shaft portion, and end effector assembly that can be independently manipulated. The end effector assembly itself is segmented into multiple tissue engaging arms that can move independently to provide precise control over prostate positioning and manipulation during surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The end effector assembly acts as an intermediary tool inserted through the urethra to engage and manipulate the prostate gland. This intermediary device provides the surgeon with direct mechanical control over the prostate's position and orientation, enabling precise manipulation while avoiding damage to surrounding neurovascular bundles.
2Measurement precision
If complex surgical devices are used to achieve precise manipulation, then tissue manipulation precision improves, but device complexity increases making cleaning and sterilization difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The device is designed with separable components including a handle portion, shaft portion, and end effector assembly that can be disassembled from one another. This segmentation allows each component to be easily removed and cleaned separately, simplifying the sterilization process while maintaining the precision manipulation capabilities during surgery.
Solution Approach 2:
The end effector assembly incorporates movable tissue engaging arms that can transition between deployed and undeployed positions. This dynamic design allows the complex functional components to be reconfigured into a more compact and manageable form factor that facilitates easier cleaning and sterilization after the surgical procedure.
3Ease of operation
If the end effector remains inserted in the shaft during surgery, then continuous manipulation is possible, but post-procedure cleaning and sterilization becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector assembly is designed as a removable component that can be detached from the shaft portion after the surgical procedure. This separable design allows the end effector to be easily removed for thorough cleaning and sterilization while still providing continuous manipulation capabilities during the actual surgery when it remains connected to the shaft.
Solution Approach 2:
The end effector assembly can be dynamically reconfigured from an inserted operational state during surgery to a removed cleaning state after surgery. The tissue engaging arms can be undeployed and the entire assembly detached from the shaft, transitioning the device from a configuration optimized for continuous manipulation to one optimized for accessible cleaning and sterilization.
Data Source
AI summary
A tissue manipulation device includes an end effector assembly disposed at a distal end of a shaft portion, the end effector assembly including a tissue engaging assembly having first and second tissue engaging arms that each include a first arm segment, a second arm segment, and a third arm segment that are coupled by living hinges. When an adjustment member coupled to the end effector assembly is displaced from a first position to a second position, the end effector assembly transition from a first undeployed position, in which the first and second tissue engaging arms are disposed a first configuration adapted for insertion into a patient, to a second deployed position, in which the first and second tissue engaging arms are disposed a second configuration adapted to manipulate a tissue of the patient.