Novel device for the in-situ cleaning of 5mm diameter and eccentric design laparoscopes

腹腔镜术是腹部的锁孔手术，广泛应用于普通外科、泌尿外科、结直肠(含肥胖症)外科和妇科。它需要在外部屏幕上投射的外科视野的良好视力。然而，腹腔镜镜片经常受到液体、血液、组织、脂肪或雾状物质的污染，这些都损害了这一视野。直到最近，清洗镜片的唯一方法是在手术过程中将其从患者体内取出。这会导致外科医生的工作流程和注意力被打破，手术停止/重新开始，在经常是危急时刻(例如，当患者出血时)，增加了对患者安全的风险。2013年国王学院医院的一项研究显示，每次手术平均切除手术13次，即使这样，外科医生也有37%的时间会在视力不佳的情况下工作。申请人已经推出了OpClear(DI2)系统，这是一种一次性护套，可以夹在一个标准类型的腹腔镜上，即直径10 mm(0或30度角)的镜片。OpClear通过护套和晶状体表面输送液体，以清除晶状体，而镜片仍留在患者体内。申请者现在面临着一个重大的商业和技术挑战；平台技术的重新开发，使OpClear可以应用于直径5毫米的范围、45度范围、长距离范围以及代表50%市场份额的更古怪设计的许多范围。这个封闭的项目从根本上背离了刚性护套的方法，并开发了一种新的、更灵活的OpClear(DI3)架构。

Laparoscopy is abdominal “keyhole” surgery widely used in General Surgery, Urology, Colorectal (including Obesity) Surgery and Gynaecology. It requires excellent vision of the surgical field as projected on an external screen. However, laparoscope lens are regularly contaminated by fluids, blood, tissue, fat or fogging which impairs this view. Until recently the only way of cleaning the scope was to remove it from the patient during a procedure. This results in the surgeon’s work flow and concentration being broken, the operation stopped/restarted, adding a risk to patient safety at often critical moments (for example when patient is bleeding). A 2013 Kings College Hospital study showed that the scope is removed on average 13 times per procedure and even then a surgeon will work 37% of the time with sub-optimal vision. The applicant has launched the OpClear (DI2) system which is a disposable sheath that clips on to one standard type of laparoscope, namely the 10 mm diameter (0 or 30 degree angle) scopes. The OpClear delivers fluids through a sheath and across the lens surface to clear the lens whilst the scope remains within the patient. The applicant now faces a major commercial and technical challenge; redevelopment of the platform technology such that OpClear can be applied to 5 mm diameter scopes, 45 degree scopes, long scopes and the many scopes of a more eccentric design representing 50% of the market. The enclosed project presents a radical departure from the rigid sheath approach and the development of a novel and more flexible OpClear (DI3) architecture.