Design of a compliant steerable arthroscopic punch

Master thesis (2010)

Authors

Contributors

J.L. Herder (mentor)
G.J.M. Tuijthof (mentor)
Programme
Bio-Compatible Design (Mechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineering) (TU Delft)
Copyright: © 2010 Nai, T.Y.
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Published Date

29-01-2010

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Programme

Bio-Compatible Design

Abstract

Meniscectomy is a medical procedure where ruptured meniscal tissue is removed within the knee joint. The con- ventional cutters fail to reach the entire meniscus. Therefore, the focus of this study is to create a cutter with a steerable tip, which allows sideway steering to increase the reacha- bility within the knee joint. Additionally, this steerable joint is required to be robust to transmit a cutting force of up to 190N. The mechanism design is divided into the functions: steering and actuating cutting mechanism. The most promis- ing solution of each function was combined and resulted in the use of a crossed configuration of a Compliant Rolling- Contact Element for the instrument joint. Flexural Steering Beams actuate the rotation of the joint using the principle of a parallelogram mechanism. A prototype of this mechanism has a range of motion of +25 and -22 degrees with a steering stiffness at the handle side of 18Nmm/rad. An axial load of 200N on the tip corresponded with a parasitic deflection of 4 degrees. This unique type of a steerable joint shows poten- tial to be functional in a meniscectomy cutter due to its great robustness towards compression, yet allowing the instrument tip to deflect.