Patent Application
20220338873
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for holding a surgical suture.
Medical procedures have advanced to the point where doctors routinely conduct complex surgeries on patients for a variety of reasons. In some cases the surgeries involve removal of cancerous or otherwise diseased tissues. In other cases, the surgery is meant to minimize the injury done during an accident. And in still other procedures surgeons are able to improve a person's appearance by various plastic surgery techniques. Regardless of the purpose of the surgery, virtually all require some suturing of the skin and/or other tissues of the patient.
Depending on the type of surgery and the types of tissues involved, a surgeon may elect to use a variety of different suture needles. Common surgical needles include ⅝ circle, ½ circle, ⅜ circle, ¼ circle, J-shape, compound curve, ½ curved and straight. Each of these needles may also have a point type such as a taper point, blunt taper point, cutting edge, reverse cutting edge, taper cut and micro-point spatula. In the course of a surgery, a surgeon may elect any combination of needle shapes and points depending on the types of tissue which need to be closed and the types of incisions which were formed.
Additionally, there are numerous different suturing threads including polypropylene monofilament, polyester, polyester braided, nylon monofilament, silk, silk braded, and many others. These materials come in different sizes and are often color coded to allow the surgeon to verify what material he or she is working with. When combined with the different needle shapes and needle points, there are literally hundreds of potential combinations which may be used.
Because of the harm which has been caused from needles left in patients during surgeries, many states and virtually all hospitals require that every surgical suture be maintained in the operating field and accounted for before the patient is closed up at the end of the surgery.
The suture tray 12a-12j usually includes a needle 16e-16j and a length of suture thread 20e-20j of the desired material and thickness needed for the surgery. When a particular needle/suture thread is needed, the surgical technician in the operating room is responsible to grasp the desired needle with hemostats/forceps and hand it to the surgeon. When the surgeon is finished making the needed sutures, the needle is returned to the surgical technician who is responsible for securing the needle so that it can be used again as needed.
Surgical technicians are often also required to hold retractors and other instruments to assist the surgeon. Thus, the surgical technician may be required to secure the needle with one hand, while the other hand is being used to assist the surgeon with other tools. When a surgery is complex, the surgical technician may be dealing with ten or more different needle/suture combinations, as well as other surgical tools. Thus, it is easy to lose track of exactly which needle/suture combinations is in which location.
In an attempt to control the needles, many surgical technicians have resorted to using a sponge 30 into which the suture needles are secured when not in use. To further prevent the wrong needle/suture combination being given to the surgeon, some surgical technicians write on the sponge with a marker during surgery to indicate which needle/suture combination is which. It will be appreciated that to the naked eye, it is difficult to distinguish between a size 4 silk suture and a size 6 silk suture. While the size 6 silk suture may hold an incision closed, a size 3 or 4 may be more likely to break, thereby creating potential issues after the surgery. While writing the numbers helps identify which suture is which, it is also distracting during the surgery and if the surgical technician's attention is drawn away by the surgeon, it is easy to confuse the different needle/suture combinations.
While a surgical technician can write a code for the various needle/suture thread combinations which are likely to be used in advance, doing so requires the surgical technician to constantly determine which needles are disposed on the sponge, which packets have not yet been opened, and which needles are in use. This can be particularly confusing if a suture breaks when the needle is pulled from the suture tray 12. If, for example, a 4 silk ½ circle needle is pulled out and the suture breaks, the surgical technician may dispose the needle in the sponge at the number indicated. He or she must then get another 4 silk ½ circle package and open it for use. While the surgeon uses the needle, the location on the sponge for the 4 silk ½ circle is already filled—potentially leading to confusion. When there are unfilled numbers on the sponge, the technician must determine if the needle is missing or has yet to be used.
Additionally, at the end of the surgery, every suture needle must be accounted for. If one is missing, the surgical technician must figure out which one is missing and why. While knowing exactly which needle/suture combination is missing may help indicate places to look, this is only possible if one knows exactly which one is missing. Thus, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for securing surgical needles.
The following summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every possible implementation of the invention, but rather to give illustrative examples of application of principles of the invention.
A method and apparatus for holding surgical sutures may include disposing a suture needle holding pad on the suture tray or a cover thereof. The suture needle holding pad may be made from open cell or closed sell foam, Styrofoam, rubber, or other material which will receive and hold the needle in place. In a preferred embodiment, the surgical suture holding pad is made from a material which will not damage the tip of the needle when the needle is inserted therein and will allow the needle to be pulled out so that it can be used again.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described in reference to the numbered drawings wherein:
It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It will be appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the present disclosure in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of different aspects of the invention in greater clarity. Similarly, not all configurations or embodiments described herein or covered by the appended claims will include all of the aspects of the present disclosure as discussed above.
Various aspects of the invention and accompanying drawings will now be discussed in reference to the numerals provided therein so as to enable one skilled in the art to practice the present invention. The skilled artisan will understand, however, that the methods described below can be practiced without employing these specific details, or that they can be used for purposes other than those described herein. Indeed, they can be modified and can be used in conjunction with products and techniques known to those of skill in the art in light of the present disclosure. The drawings and the descriptions thereof are intended to be exemplary of various aspects of the invention and are not intended to narrow the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the drawings may show aspects of the invention in isolation and the elements in one figure may be used in conjunction with elements shown in other figures.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment,” “one configuration,” “an embodiment,” or “a configuration” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment, etc. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places may not necessarily limit the inclusion of a particular element of the invention to a single embodiment, rather the element may be included in other or all embodiments discussed herein.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details may be provided, such as examples of products or manufacturing techniques that may be used, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that embodiments discussed in the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations may not be shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Before the present invention is disclosed and described in detail, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular structures, process steps, or materials discussed or disclosed herein, but is extended to include equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those of ordinarily skill in the relevant art. More specifically, the invention is defined by the terms set forth in the claims. It should also be understood that terminology contained herein is used for the purpose of describing particular aspects of the invention only and is not intended to limit the invention to the aspects or embodiments shown unless expressly indicated as such. Likewise, the discussion of any particular aspect of the invention is not to be understood as a requirement that such aspect is required to be present apart from an express inclusion of that aspect in the claims.
It should also be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, singular forms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” may include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a bracket” may include an embodiment having one or more of such brackets, and reference to “the target plate” may include reference to one or more of such target plates.
As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result to function as indicated. For example, an object that is “substantially” enclosed would mean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context, such that enclosing nearly all the length of a lumen would be substantially enclosed, even if the distal end of the structure enclosing the lumen had a slit or channel formed along a portion thereof. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, structure which is “substantially free of” a bottom would either completely lack a bottom or so nearly completely lack a bottom that the effect would be effectively the same as if it completely lacked a bottom.
As used herein, the term “generally” refers to something that has characteristics of a quality without necessarily being exactly that quality. For example, a structure said to be generally vertical would be at least as vertical as horizontal, i.e., would extend 45 degrees or greater from horizontal. Likewise, something said to be generally circular may be rounded like an oval but need not have a consistent diameter in every direction.
As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint while still accomplishing the function associated with the range.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member.
Concentrations, amounts, proportions, and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
Turning now to
The suture needle holding pad 80 may be disposed on the surgical suture tray 62. (It will be appreciated in some current brands the suture tray is a small plastic tray and other brands use a folded piece of carboard to form the tray. The present disclosure is intended to include both these and a variety of other trays which may be used to carry a suture needle and suture thread.)
Turning now to
Thus, there is disclosed a method and apparatus for holding suture needles. It will be appreciated that modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63178654 | Apr 2021 | US |
