WO2008117328A2

WO2008117328A2 - Apparatus for forming barbs on surgical thread

Info

Publication number: WO2008117328A2
Application number: PCT/IT2008/000195
Authority: WO
Inventors: Ciro Accardo
Original assignee: Promoitalia International Srl
Priority date: 2007-03-27
Filing date: 2008-03-21
Publication date: 2008-10-02
Also published as: WO2008117328A3; ITRM20070162A1

Abstract

The present invention relates to the sector of surgery and in particular to an apparatus for forming barbs on the surface of threads for surgical use, both of the absorbable type and of the non-absorbable type. This has been obtained, according to the present invention, by providing an automated apparatus for forming barbs, said apparatus being equipped, in combination, with: means (5, 6) for making incisions in at least one surgical thread; means for unreeling the thread, on which barbs are to be made, from the gathering reel of a known type, on which said thread is wound; means for guiding and positioning said thread properly with respect to said means for making incisions (5, 6); means for truncating said barbed thread to the desired length; and means for gathering the portions of barbed thread.

Description

APPARATUS FOR FORMING BAKBS ON SURGICAL THREAD

*****

The present invention relates to the surgery sector, and in particular to an apparatus for forming barbs on the surface of threads for surgical use of an absorbable type as well as of a non-absorbable type. Current surgical techniques, both for interventions of an aesthetic nature and interventions of a curative nature, envisage the use of different types of threads.

Amongst these techniques, some require barbed surgical threads, i.e., threads provided with barbs appropriately distributed along the surface of the thread that face in particular directions.

The main purpose of the invention is to provide an automatic apparatus for making barbs on surgical thread, said barbs being characterized by their desired length, shape, and inclination.

This has been obtained, according to the present invention, by providing an automated apparatus for forming barbs that is equipped in combination with: means for making incisions in at least one surgical thread; means for unreeling the thread, on which barbs are to be made, from the gathering reel of a known type, on which said thread is wound; means for guiding and positioning said thread properly with respect to said means for making incisions; means for truncating said barbed thread to the desired length; and means for gathering the portions of barbed thread.

A better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the ensuing detailed description with reference to the annexed plates of drawings, which illustrate, purely by way of non-limiting example, some preferred embodiments.

In the plates of drawings: Figure 1 is a top plan view that shows in schematic form the layout of a first embodiment of the invention, designed to form barbs on just one side of the thread;

Figure 2, which is similar to the previous one, shows the path of the thread from its unwinding off the supply reel to the moment of gathering of the barbed thread;

Figure 3 shows in schematic form a length of thread barbed on just one side; Figure 4 is an enlarged detail of Figure 3;

Figures 5, 6 and 7 show, respectively, a view in front elevation, a view in side elevation, and a view from above of the load-bearing structure of the apparatus according to the invention; Figure 8 is a top plan view that shows in schematic form the system of micrometric regulation of the cutting angle of the rotating blades with respect to the thread;

' Figure 9 is a 3D view of a left-hand cutting head; and

Figure 10, which is similar to Figure 2, shows in schematic form a second embodiment of the invention, designed to form barbs on the two opposite sides of the thread. With reference to the figures, the apparatus according to the present invention comprises: a station 2 for loading the surgical thread F; at least one station 13 for unwinding and gripping the same thread F; at least one left-hand station 5 for making barbs; at least one right-hand station 6 for making barbs; a cutting or truncating station 11; at least one station provided with display and control means 7; and at least one wheel 4 for housing the thread F, on which barbs are to be made and which is to be truncated.

According to the invention, loaded on the loading station 2 of the thread F is the reel BF of thread to be processed.

The station 13 for unwinding and gripping the thread has the task of unwinding the thread F from the loading station 2 and of sending it to the housing wheel 4, keeping it always taut.

The left-hand (in what follows, LH) station 5 makes incisions in a stretch of thread F, thus creating barbs facing left and set at a regular pitch apart. The right-hand (in what follows, RH) station 6, which is similar to the previous one, creates barbs facing right.

The truncating station 11 cuts the thread F already provided with barbs to the desired length.

The display station 7 films the thread F from above in the area corresponding to the blades for making incisions in order to enable the operator to verify proper execution of the incisions using a purposely designed monitor 9.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the wheel 4 for housing the thread F has a middle circumferential groove, designed to house the thread in its path from the unwinding and gripping station 13 to the truncating station 11, keeping the outer side of the thread F partially projecting with respect to its own lateral surface so that the rotating disk blades for making incisions can act on the thread F, without interfering mechanically with the wheel 4 itself.

In the examples illustrated, the invention is provided with a load-bearing structure made of sectional metal, preferably anodized aluminium, which supports a rigid metal plate set horizontally, fixed to which are the aforesaid means for processing, positioning, and moving the surgical thread.

The apparatus according to the present invention is designed for making incisions in opposite directions on at least one side of a surgical thread , i.e., to the right and to the left in a thread laid horizontally.

In a first embodiment of the invention (Figures 1 and 2), described herein purely by way of non-limiting example, said thread is a thread made of polypropylene (thread gauge 2/0) , which undergoes incision on just one side and is truncated automatically to the desired length, for example, in the 55-mm and 85-mm formats. The incisions are made with rotating disk blades with a cutting edge inclined at 35°, and the respective station for making barbs is inclined at 12° with respect to a plane tangential to the lateral surface of the wheel 4 for housing the thread F. The type of blade rectified at 35° and the station for making left-hand and right-hand incisions inclined at 12° are substantially fixed parameters at which it has been possible to arrive after a long campaign of experiments that has given rise to the production of some thousands of samples of thread. According to another peculiar characteristic of the invention, it is possible to change the type of blades and the inclination of the stations for making incisions to obtain different types of barbs.

For said purpose, it is preferable to provide means for angular adjustment of a micrometric type. In the example illustrated (Figure 8), said means of regulation envisage mounting of each LH cutting head 5 and RH cutting head 6 on rigid plates P that can rotate with respect to the point where the incisions are made according to an axis parallel to the axis of the wheel 4 for housing the thread F. Said plates P are made to rotate by means of an external-screw/internal-screw system with micrometric-pitch threading in which the internal screw M is fixed with respect to the plate P and the external screw V is axially fixed with respect to the structural framework of the apparatus described herein (or vice versa) .

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, the thread F is unreeled from the reel BF via the station 13 for unwinding and gripping the thread, and proceeds its path therefrom towards the first of the contrast wheels 3 that turns in contact with the wheel 4 for housing the thread, keeping it in the circumferential groove provided in the latter. The invention envisages that the execution of the incisions I in the thread F is made in a step-by-step mode: once the thread F has reached the position corresponding to the first incision facing right, it stops for an instant whilst the rotating disk blade of the RH station for making barbs advances for a pre- determined distance until it makes an incision in the thread with the desired depth and then recedes immediately, whilst the thread advances for a stretch equal to the pitch between the barbs and then moves into the position corresponding to the next incision, and so forth up to the end of said series of right-hand incisions.

At this point, the thread F advances for a predetermined intermediate stretch, leaving an area without incisions I and hence without barbs S. When the thread has reached the position corresponding to the first incision facing left, it stops for an instant whilst the rotating disk blade of the LH station for making barbs advances for a predetermined distance until it makes an incision in the thread itself, and then recedes immediately, whilst the thread advances for a stretch equal to the pitch between the barbs and then moves into the position corresponding to the next incision, and so forth up to the end of said series of left-hand incisions. At this point, the thread F is made to advance for a pre-determined terminal stretch, leaving an area without incisions I - and hence without barbs S - until it moves into a position for truncating the thread to the desired length. The segment of barbed thread drops into a receptacle for gathering said segments for the subsequent packaging step.

In the first embodiment described, each of the rotating disk blades of the LH and RH cutting stations

(5 and 6) is mounted on a supporting frame that is mobile on two, preferably mutually perpendicular, micrometrically regulated slides, which are arranged, one in a direction parallel, and the other in a direction transverse, to the direction of the reciprocating cutting travel of the blades themselves (Figure 9) .

Preferably, encoders of a known type are provided to control the linear and angular displacements of the cutting blades, i.e., of the linear and angular micrometric slides on which they are installed. The signals of said encoders are sent to a PLC and/or to a PC for control and management of operation of the entire equipment.

In addition, the length of the segments of barbed thread that are cut by the truncating station 11 can be adjusted by varying the distance between the truncating station itself and the wheel 4 for housing the thread F. According to another peculiar characteristic of the invention, said distance is varied by the use of a purposely designed interchangeable guide tube T, the length of which is a function of the desired length for the segments of barbed thread that are cut.

The rotating disk blades are kept in rotation via means of a known type, for example belts and pulleys.

The movements of rotation of the contrast wheels 3 of the wheel 4 for housing the thread F and the reel of thread BF are governed and synchronized in a known way with the movements of the rotating blades. Said management and synchronization is obtained by means of a programmable controller (for example, a PLC), preferably equipped with an input/output interface of a touch-screen type via the monitor 9.

Feed the thread F is controlled by rotation of the contrast wheels 3 and of the housing wheel 4 by- counting the steps made by the stepper motors that cause the wheels themselves to rotate, whilst control of the cutting travel of the rotating blades is preferably performed by pneumatic-actuation means.

It is also preferable to envisage at least one sensor, for example a photoelectric cell, for detecting and signalling the presence of any jamming of the thread. In this way, the machine is blocked, thus preventing any jamming thereof and/or damage thereto, and moreover the waste of raw materials is reduced.

According to a further peculiar characteristic of the present invention, the wheel 4 for housing the thread F is advantageously interchangeable according to the diameter of the thread that is to undergo incision, without any need to intervene on the other devices of the apparatus so far described. In other words, to form barbs on threads of different diameter, it is advantageously sufficient to replace the housing wheel 4 and adjust accordingly the cutting travel of the rotating blades by acting on the purposely designed micrometrically regulated slides, on which the left- hand station 5 for making barbs and right-hand station 6 for making barbs are mounted.

A second embodiment of the invention, illustrated in schematic form in Figure 10, is designed to form barbs on the two opposite sides of the thread. For said purpose, two pairs of cutting heads of the type previously described are present, arranged in series; the first pair (left-hand and right-hand) makes incisions on one side of the thread and the second pair (left-hand and right-hand) makes incisions on the opposite side of the thread before the thread is sent on to the truncating station 11. According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, the incisions of one side of the thread are staggered by half a pitch with respect to the incisions on the opposite side so as not to reduce the section of the thread excessively. Said reduction of section, in fact, would limit the mechanical resistance to tensile stress .

Finally, a software is provided for management and control of the machine, which is designed to send the processing data on jamming and on the number of threads produced to a remote-control station, for example by connection via modem or directly to the Internet. In addition to this, there is also provided remote video control, in real time, of the barbs that are made in order to verify the quality, depth and inclination of the incisions made. Said video control is preferably provided by means of the display and control station 7 already described.

The present invention has been described and illustrated according to a preferred embodiment thereof, but it is evident that any person skilled in the branch may make modifications thereto and/or introduce technically and/or functionally equivalent replacements, without thereby departing from the sphere of protection of the present industrial patent right.

Claims

1. An automated apparatus for forming barbs on threads, characterized in that it comprises, in combination:

- means for making incisions on at least one side of at least one surgical thread (F) ;

- means for unreeling the thread on which barbs are to be made from the gathering reel of a known type, on which it is wound;

- means for guiding and positioning said thread properly with respect to said means for making incisions;

- means for truncating said barbed thread to the desired length; and means for gathering the portions of barbed thread.

2. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that it comprises: a station (2) for loading the surgical thread (F); at least one station (13) for unwinding and gripping said thread (F) ; at least one left-hand station (5) for making barbs; at least one right-hand station (6) for making barbs; a cutting or truncating station (11); and at least one wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) on which barbs are to be made and which is to be truncated.

3. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said station (2) for loading the thread (F) is designed to be loaded with a reel (BF) of thread to be worked.

4. The apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 3, characterized in that the station (13) for unwinding and gripping the thread is designed to unwind the thread (F) from the loading station (2) and to send it to the housing wheel (4), keeping said thread always taut.

5. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the left-hand station (5) for making barbs is designed to make incisions on a stretch of thread (F) , creating barbs facing left set apart from one another with a regular pitch, and in that the right-hand station (6) for making barbs, similar to the previous one, is designed to create barbs facing right.

6. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the truncating station (11) is designed to cut the thread (F), already provided with barbs, to the desired length.

7. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that it comprises a station eguipped with display and control means (7), designed to film the thread (F) from above, in the area corresponding to the blades for making incisions, in order to enable the operator to verify execution of the barbs by means of a purposely designed monitor (9).

8. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) has a middle circumferential groove, designed to house the thread in its path from the unwinding and gripping station (13) to the truncating station (11) , keeping the outer side of the thread (F) partially projecting with respect to its own lateral surface; thus obtaining that the rotating disk blades for making incisions can act on the thread (F) without interfering mechanically with the wheel (4) itself.

9. The apparatus according to Claim 1 or Claim 2, characterized in that it is provided with a load- bearing structure made of sectional metal, preferably anodized aluminium, which supports a rigid metal plate set horizontally, fixed to which are the aforesaid means for processing, positioning, and moving the surgical thread.

'10. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that it is designed for making barbs in opposite directions on just one side of a surgical thread , i.e., towards the right and towards the left in a thread laid horizontally.

11. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that said thread is a thread made of polypropylene thread gauge 2/0, which is barbed and truncated automatically to the desired length: for, example in the 55-mm and 85-mm formats.

12. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the incisions are made with rotating disk blades with a cutting edge inclined at 35° and the respective station for making barbs is inclined at 12° with respect to a plane tangential to the lateral surface of the wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) .

13. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the thread (F) is designed to be unreeled from a reel (BF) via the station (13) for unwinding and gripping the thread, and to proceed its path towards a first contrast wheel (3) , which turns in contact with the wheel (4) for housing the thread, keeping said thread in the circumferential channel or groove provided in the latter; feed of the thread being managed in step-by-step mode.

14. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that each of the left-cutting station

(5) and right-cutting station (6) is equipped with at least one rotating disk blade mounted on a supporting frame, which is mobile on two micrometrically regulated, preferably mutually perpendicular slides, which are arranged one in a direction parallel and one in the direction transverse to the direction of the ?reciprocating cutting travel of the blades themselves.

15. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the length of the segments of barbed thread that are cut by the truncating station (11) is designed to be adjusted by varying the distance between the truncating station itself and the wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) ; there being provided for said purpose a purposely designed interchangeable guide tube (T) , the length of which is a function of the desired length for the segments of barbed thread that are cut.

16. The apparatus according to Claim 2, characterized in that the stations for making barbs (5 and 6) envisage rotating disk blades that are kept in rotation by means of belts and pulleys.

17. The apparatus according to Claim 13, characterized in that a programmable controller of a known type is provided, which is designed to manage and synchronize the movements of rotation of the contrast wheels (3), of the wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) , and of the reel of thread (BF) with the movements of the rotating blades.

18. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said controller is provided with an input/output interface of a "touch screen" type via a purposely designed monitor (9) .

19. The apparatus according to Claim 17, characterized in that feed of the thread (F) is controlled by the rotation of the contrast wheels (3) and of the housing wheel (4), by counting the steps made by the stepper motors that cause the wheels themselves to rotate, whilst the control of the cutting travel of the rotating blades is made by pneumatic- actuation means.

20. The apparatus according to Claim 14, characterized in that the wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) is interchangeable according to the diameter of the thread that is to undergo incision; it being thus obtained that, to make incisions in threads of different diameter it is sufficient to replace the housing wheel (4) and accordingly adjust the cutting travel of the rotating blades by acting on the purposely designed micrometrically regulated slides, on which the left-hand station (5) and right-hand station (6) for making barbs are mounted.

21. The apparatus according to Claim 2 or Claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a first pair of cutting stations and a second pair of cutting stations arranged in series: the first pair formed by a left- hand station (5) and a right-hand station (6) for making barbs is designed to make incisions on one side of the thread, whilst the second pair is designed to make incisions on the opposite side of the thread.

22. The apparatus according to Claim 21, characterized in that said incisions are made on the thread before it is sent to the truncating station

(H) •

23. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the barbs on one side of the thread are staggered by half a pitch with respect to the barbs on the opposite side so as not to reduce the cross section of the thread excessively.

24. The apparatus according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is equipped with a management and control software, which is designed to send the data on processing, jamming, and number of threads produced to a remote-control station, for example by connection via modem or directly to the Internet .

25. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said software is designed to provide a remote video control, in real time, of the barbs that are made to verify the quality, the depth and the inclination of the incisions made; said video control being made by means of a purposely provided display and control station (7).

26. The apparatus according to Claim 5, characterized in that it envisages means for angular adjustment of a micrometric type for regulating the inclination of the LH cutting station (5) and RH cutting stations (6), and hence of the corresponding cutting blades, with respect to the thread (F) .

27. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said means for angular adjustment envisage mounting each LH cutting head (5) and RH cutting head (6) on a respective rigid plate (P) , which is able to turn with respect to the point of incision of the thread (F) according to an axis parallel to the axis of a wheel (4) for housing the thread (F) .

28. The apparatus according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said plates (P) are set in rotation by means of an external-screw/internal-screw system with micrometric-pitch threading in which the internal screw (M) is fixed with respect to the plate (P) and the external screw (V) is axially fixed with respect to the structural framework of the apparatus itself, or vice versa.

29. An automated apparatus for forming barbs on threads, substantially as described and illustrated in the present description and in the annexed drawings.