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

腹腔镜手术是一种腹部“锁眼”手术，广泛应用于普外科、泌尿外科、结直肠（含肥胖）外科和妇科。它需要在外部屏幕上投射出良好的手术视野。然而，腹腔镜镜头经常被液体、血液、组织、脂肪或雾气污染，这会损害视野。直到最近，清洁镜的唯一方法是在手术过程中将其从患者身上取出。这导致外科医生的工作流程和注意力被打断，手术停止/重新开始，在关键时刻（例如患者出血时）增加了患者安全的风险。2013年国王学院医院（Kings College Hospital）的一项研究表明，每次手术平均要取出镜13次，即使这样，外科医生仍有37%的时间在视力不理想的情况下工作。申请人已经推出了OpClear （DI2）系统，该系统是一种一次性护套，可夹在一种标准类型的腹腔镜上，即直径10毫米（0或30度角）的腹腔镜。OpClear通过护套输送液体并穿过晶状体表面，以清除晶状体，同时镜镜仍在患者体内。申请人现在面临着重大的商业和技术挑战；重新开发平台技术，使OpClear可以应用于5毫米直径的瞄准镜，45度瞄准镜，长瞄准镜和许多更偏心设计的瞄准镜，占市场的50%。封闭的项目呈现出一种彻底的背离刚性的护套方法和一种新颖的、更灵活的OpClear （DI3）架构的发展。

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.