Trocar Oblique Needle Ports and Latch Ring Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surgical access devices, such as trocar assemblies, lack effective mechanisms for efficiently accessing cavities within the body and closing tissue openings post-procedure, leading to potential complications and prolonged healing times.
Innovation Solution
The development of a trocar assembly with a cannula and obturator system that includes a latch ring and oblique needle ports, allowing for precise suturing and wound closure through oblique suture paths, facilitating efficient access and closure of surgical sites.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional trocar assemblies are used for surgical access, then basic cavity access is achieved, but effective wound closure and reduced healing time are not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The trocar assembly is segmented into distinct functional components: the cannula for access, the obturator for tissue penetration, and the separate suture needle system for wound closure. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, particularly enabling the suture needle to pass through the cannula and create effective wound closure without requiring removal of the entire trocar assembly.
Solution Approach 2:
The suture needle and suture material are prepared and positioned in advance within the trocar assembly structure. The needle can be inserted through the cannula before the actual wound closure is needed, allowing the surgeon to have the closure mechanism ready and positioned for immediate deployment, thus reducing overall healing time.
2Measurement precision
If traditional needle insertion ports are used, then simple instrument passage is achieved, but precise needle guidance for suturing is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The needle insertion port is designed with specific local geometric features including oblique angles and tapered configurations at the distal end of the cannula. These localized structural modifications provide precise guidance for needle insertion while maintaining the overall simplicity of the trocar assembly. The oblique port creates a defined trajectory for the suture needle without requiring complex guidance mechanisms.
3Reliability
If the latch ring mechanism is not used, then simpler device structure is maintained, but secure coupling and decoupling of cannula and housing is not achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The latch ring is designed as a rotatable dynamic element that can transition between locked and unlocked positions. When rotated to the first position, the latch arms engage with the housing to secure the cannula. When rotated to the second position, the engagement is released, allowing decoupling. This dynamic rotational mechanism provides secure coupling and easy decoupling without requiring complex multi-component locking systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The latch ring acts as an intermediary mechanism between the cannula and the housing. Rather than directly coupling these two components, the latch ring mediates the connection through its latch arms that engage with both the cannula flange and the housing, providing secure attachment while maintaining the ability for controlled decoupling through rotation.
Data Source
AI summary
A surgical access device includes a cannula having proximal and distal ends and a cannula lumen. A housing assembly coupled to the proximal end includes a proximal housing and a latch ring having a user engagement feature. The latch ring is rotatable by the user engagement feature to selectively couple and decouple the proximal housing with the cannula. An interior of the housing assembly communicates with the cannula lumen to define a working channel extending along a central axis of the surgical access device. First and second needle ports open to the working channel through respective first and second side portions of the surgical access device. Each needle port is configured to direct a suture needle across the working channel at an oblique angle relative to the central device axis. The user engagement feature is circumferentially offset from each of the first and second needle ports.