Development of a collapsible guard component for a novel surgical instrument

The Endoblend is a novel surgical device for use in laparoscopic hysterectomy surgery. Laparoscopic hysterectomy surgery requires that the uterus be removed through a laparoscopic port. To achieve this, the Endoblend liquefies the uterus through the use of cutting blades. The Endoblend has a stem containing aspiration tubes, irrigation tubes and power transmission elements. A spinning blade is attached at the end of this stem for the purpose of liquefying previously separated tissues such that they can be removed from the abdominal cavity through the aspiration tubes. In order to effectively process the tissues, they must be placed with a sealed enclosure. This enclosure is at risk of being compromised by the spinning blades and therefore the need arises for a guard module to prevent this. The guard module must function to direct the tissue towards the blades and prevent any tearing of the enclosure. It must also be capable of fitting through a 15 mm laparoscopic port. A guard has been developed comprising of three Nitinol rings and an ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. The guard's functionality has been tested and the guard is capable of meeting all the functional requirements.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Author dc:creator

• Buckley, Darragh

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Alexander H. Slocum.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40395

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40395