State-of-Art Digest: Endoscopic Powered Linear Stapler (ii)
In the previous digest, Alligator from Surgnova Healthcare Technologies was briefly introduced. In the past two years, another new stapler iReach Magnum from Reach Surgical had come into the sights of global surgeons. By glancing at the product for the first time, it is clear Reach Surgical put a lot of thought into their outlook.
An interesting observation is that Reach Surgical decided to apply distinct colour schemes for this product in China and the rest market of the world. The global version applied a grayish black plan with matte finish in the plastic case outside the proximal handpiece. This is a unique and bold design to impress the practitioners in the field of industry. Whereas the domestic products in China applied a traditional white colour decoration to not challenge their existing customers in China. E.g. the new iReach 睿志 smart stapler launched earlier in China.
Another point worth mentioning is the "forky" design of the trigger. Other than the ergonomic consideration, the large fork design of jaw closing trigger clearly protects the top small firing trigger from false activation.
However, the fork design clearly occupied the space for rotational collar. The smaller rotational collar might challenge the clinical habit of the surgeons.
The maximal articulation angle of the distal jaw is 55 degrees bidirectionally. The tilting angle is limited to two gears for each side (30 degree and 55 degrees).
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Like the Alligator endoscopic stapler, Reach Surgical also facilitates iReach Magnum with a tissue thickness sensor. Again, this might be simply a pressive force sensor connected at the proximal end of the shaft. The cutting speed of distal knife would be controlled by an embedded microchip in response to the sensor input. Once the tissue clamped is within its capability the cutting speed would be regular. And for the tissue thickness slightly exceeds the limit, the cutting speed would be slower. The knife would stop cutting if the sensor suggested a significantly larger resistance.
The wearing problem of the blade/knife within the stapler is a key factor affecting the lifetime of a stapler. As the procedure goes on, the blade would become increasingly blunt and hence affecting the surgical results. Reach Surgical applied a built-in blade within each reload which would enable fresh cutting for every new reload.
An optional 15s pre-compression function was integrated within the iReach Magnum. This is to allow the tissue clamped within the distal jaws to accommodate the pressure and reduce the local blood burst. This is reminded by a flashing blue signal on the sides together with a buzzing sound. This could be skipped by double click the safety button.
Unlike most of the other manufacturers, the shaft lengths of different models varied vastly for iReach Magnum instead of a set length for size S, M and L. One hypothesis is that they listed the actual lengths of shaft raw materials.
To be continued...