A.G. Loron
None,
United States
Keywords: surgical retractor, surgery cost
Summary:
Surgical retractor maintenance costs, diverse and complex manufacturing, along with limitations in action led me to think beyond upgrading current equipment and find a new solution. Nowadays, population aging and improving surgical knowledge have multiplied the growing demand for surgeries and made the retractor's limitations even bolder. I designed and produced prototypes of a retractor, the Hydro-Retractor (HR), a single-used and easy to manufacture, easy to deploy on tissue, and with higher tissue control capacity. HR is an annular tube that folds telescopically in itself. After placing the HR along with the tissue border, enabling hydraulic pressure inside the HR causes folded parts to unfold and enlarge the circle, which in the process pushes tissues aside. In the simplest version, it consists of a syringe, a connecting tube, and a twin circle of telescoped tubes which attached parallel to each other. The skin is cut during surgery, and two telescoped tubes are placed above and below the skin's edge. The surgeon pushes the syringe and the circle enlarges to the desired size and holds the skin edges. Following surgery, tube pressure was reversed and HR was removed. HR only covers tissue borders and is a self-holding retractor that provides a safe surgical field with adjustable as well as powerful tissue retraction even for slippery tissues like bowels. Theoretically, putting equal pressure over more surface area could improve blood control. HR can expand 9 to 25 times which could be an advantage in certain surgeries. HR is not just one device; it is a model for a new generation of retractors to fulfill growing surgical needs. My patent: Hydraulic annular surgical retractor, AG Loron - US Patent 10,098,626, 2018 https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/71/16/cd/ea00618272a72b/US10098626.pdf