Description
Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most commonly performed minimally invasive surgical procedure with over 500,000 surgeries performed annually in the US alone. In this procedure, the gall bladder must be removed after detachment through a trocar incision. When gall bladder retrieval bags are unavailable, surgical teams can create a substitute using a latex glove.
If surgeons are unsuccessful at removing the gall bladder from the incision in this manner, they often enlarge the incision with a scalpel, use a syringe to extract the bile out of the gall bladder, and/or use clamps to pull the gall bladder out piece by piece. Gall bladders full of bile or stones are too large to be easily pulled out through this incision, requiring an additional 5-30 minutes of the surgical team’s time; extra time is also required to clean up any spills.
Gall bladder removal method beta prototype
The goal of this project is to develop a time-efficient method that allows surgeons to remove the detached gall bladder through an incision in the abdominal wall created for a trocar without spilling any bile or stones from the gall bladder.
I have seen the people that my device will affect, and have met with the practitioners that will ultimately use it. The tangibility of that encounter makes me want to be a more accountable and ethical engineer.
What to Know About The Global Health Design Initiative
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GHDI has been working with stakeholders for more than eight years to identify and address global health design challenges. Learn more about our history and core values.
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