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.
GHDI provided me with am amazing opportunity to apply the skills I had been learning in school to a real and complex design opportunity. My team and I were given the freedom to explore design as it relates to healthcare while also receiving the support we needed to thrive. We developed authentic collaborations with healthcare providers, which enhanced our understanding of obstetrics, our design, and our experience in Ghana.
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