Trans-vaginal cuff anchor with deployable needles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Laparoscopic hysterectomy procedures face challenges in closing the vaginal cuff due to limited visibility and access, making it technically difficult to suture effectively.
Innovation Solution
A surgical device with a handle and elongated shaft featuring deployable needles with suture anchors and a cutting mechanism that allows for precise deployment and retraction through the cervical tissue, facilitating the closure of the vaginal cuff by leaving suture anchors in place for tying off.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Illumination intensity
If traditional open hysterectomy is used, then the surgeon can visualize the vaginal cuff while suturing, but the procedure is more invasive and requires larger incisions
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical device nests multiple components within a single elongated shaft structure. The anvil, multiple needles with sutures, and cutting mechanism are all contained within the shaft, which is inserted through the cervical os. This nested configuration allows the complex suturing apparatus to pass through the narrow cervical opening while maintaining all necessary functions for vaginal cuff closure.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongated shaft acts as an intermediary tool that transmits the surgeon's control from the external handle to the internal surgical elements. The shaft mediates between the external manipulation and the internal deployment of needles, sutures, and cutting mechanisms, enabling precise control while maintaining a minimally invasive approach.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If laparoscopic hysterectomy is used, then the procedure is less invasive, but visibility and access to the vaginal cuff for suturing becomes limited and technically challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The device merges multiple surgical functions into a single integrated instrument. The anvil for needle deployment, the cutting mechanism for colpotomy, and the suture delivery system are all combined in one device. This allows the surgeon to perform colpotomy and initiate suturing without exchanging instruments, improving ease of operation while maintaining minimally invasive benefits.
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs preliminary actions by pre-loading multiple needles with sutures onto the anvil before insertion. The needles are arranged and ready for deployment in a predetermined sequence or pattern, allowing the surgeon to quickly execute the suturing process once the device is positioned, thereby improving accessibility and reducing surgical time.
3Manufacturing precision
If multiple needles with suture anchors are deployed through the cervical tissue, then the vaginal cuff can be closed with precise suturing, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the suturing function into multiple discrete needles, each carrying its own suture and anchor. This segmentation allows for precise placement of individual sutures at different locations around the vaginal cuff, achieving high manufacturing precision in the suturing pattern while managing complexity through modular needle design that can be manufactured and assembled separately.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical device for closing a vaginal cuff includes a handle having an elongated shaft and a plurality of needles disposed therein. Each needle includes a suture anchor at a distal end thereof having a suture engaged therewith. An anvil is disposed at a distal end of the elongated shaft. A cutting mechanism is operably associated with the handle and is configured to cut tissue upon actuation thereof. A firing mechanism is operably associated with the handle and is movable between an unactuated position wherein the plurality of needles and suture anchors remain retained within the elongated shaft, an actuated position wherein the plurality of needles and suture anchors deploy from the elongated shaft through the cervical tissue, and a reverted position wherein the plurality of needles retract leaving the plurality of suture anchors and sutures engaged with the cervical tissue for tying off the vaginal cuff.