Field of Invention

The device belongs to the field of medical equipment, i. e. liposuction, and is designed to remove local areas of adipose tissue that do not normally respond to diet or exercise. Areas of the body that are often treated with liposuction are: the waist; buttocks; thighs; ankles; lower legs: upper arms and the maxillofacial area. Typically, during liposuction, unwanted adipose tissue is removed by inserting a narrow metal probe or cannula through an incision in the patient's skin and moving the probe back and forth through the patient's body to loosen the adipose tissue, which is aspirated by a dedicated vacuum pump.

Description of Related Art

There is a known liposuction device (U.S. Pat. No. 6,902,559 B2; 2005) for removing subcutaneous adipose tissue, comprising a liposuction tube (cannula) with openings for the aspiration of subcutaneous adipose tissue and an injection line with an injection port at the distal end of the liposuction tube (cannula) for the delivery of an injectable working fluid, which liquefies the adipose tissue and thus facilitates its aspiration. The surgeon controls the liposuction procedure with a hand-mounted button on the handle and a foot-pressed connector, constantly moving the liposuction tube (cannula) in various directions.

There is a known liposuction method and device (U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,499 B2; 2002), in which liposuction is performed by means of an ultrasonic vibration device with a piezoelectric crystal transducer connected to the operating probe-cannula via a metal rod-waveguide. The waveguide is made of one material and the probe is made of another material. The probe may ^¬ be hollow if adipose tissue aspiration is desired, or it may be solid. The present invention is intended for a liposuction device that utilizes ultrasonic energy for a much more effective removal of unwanted tissue or fat from a mammalian body. More specifically, it concerns an ultrasonic liposuction device comprising a waveguide that vibrates at a predetermined frequency and amplitude, which in turn excites the ultrasonic frequency oscillations of the probe or cannula and thus helps to liquefy (emulsify or cavitate) the fat, which is eliminated from the body, as with a standard liposuction procedure from the patient’s body. There is a known method and devise for liposuction (U.S. Patent No. 6,875,207 B2; 2005), comprising a housing (handle) that performs a procedure of liposuction using the movements of a surgeon's hand and has a liposuction tube (cannula) at one end and an aspiration tube connected to the vacuum pump at the other end. Openings are made in the free (distal) end of the liposuction tube through which the tom fat is aspirated into the outer container by means of a vacuum pump, moreover, a metal rod-waveguide is installed inside the liposuction tube by means of the metal rod-waveguide high-frequency oscillations (25 kHz) of an ultrasonic energy source located in a housing-handle held by a surgeon are transmitted to the distal end of a liposuction tube (cannula).

Disadvantages of prototypes: normally, during liposuction, unwanted adipose tissue is removed by inserting a thin metal tube (cannula) through an incision in the patient's skin and intensively moving the tube back and forth in the patient's body or twisting it to loosen the adipose tissue. Vacuum is used to aspirate adipose tissue that is in contact with the tube (cannula). When a surgeon manipulates a tube according to the usual procedure described above, the site of insertion of the tube into the body and the surrounding area are usually severely traumatized. In fact, bruising can be quite broad because the small blood vessels located near the moving adipose tissue are broken down, and so the patient is traumatized. In addition, the surgeon usually uses a lot of energy to insert the tube (cannula) into the treatment area and actively manipulate it, which leads to undesired patient trauma, and the surgeon’s physical exhaustion and fatigue. Such effort is necessary of the surgeon to perform the operation because moving of the tube (cannula) in the adipose layer releases particles of the adipose tissue. Loosened particles of the adipose tissue are vacuumed out of the body into an external vessel. The surgeon's efficiency is partly improved by the ultrasonic energy used for liposuction, during which the ultrasonic transducer vibrates the tube (cannula) to reduce the surgeon’s effort and lessen patient's trauma. Typically, in these procedures, the liposuction tube is connected to a piezoelectric transducer, and when activated, longitudinal ultrasonic vibrations are transmitted through the tube to its distal end where the vibrations liquefy (emulsify or cavitate) the fat, which is removed from the body in the same way as during the standard liposuction procedure.

This description introduces a liposuction device in which a passive tubular part rigidly attached to the housing (handle) of the device is inserted with its distal end into the liposuction site and is immobile during the entire liposuction procedure or position of its distal end is slowly changed by the surgeon, allowing to minimize the surgeon’s physical effort to perform the operation. Elongated openings are made in the sides of the passive tube section, through which the extracted adipose tissue is drawn in by means of a vacuum pump, and a smaller diameter tube (cannula) with openings at the distal end is placed close to its inner surface, moving back and forth tears and removes drawn-in fat layers, which are aspirated by vacuum to the outside container. In addition, a flexible metal rod-waveguide is installed inside the moving tube (cannula), it is attached to the distal end of the tube (cannula), and the other end of it is connected to an ultrasonic power source, which is connected to a linear motion drive, which at the same time allows the tube (cannula) to move back and forth.

Summary of the Invention

The aim of the invention is to increase the efficiency of the liposuction device, to reduce the patient's trauma and the surgeon's physical energy required for the operation.

The invention is based on the fact that the passive tubular nozzle inserted into the fat suction site through the incision made in the body is fixed, and the tube (cannula) inside it, with the aid of a linear drive located at a corresponding distance outside, has the possibility to move back and forth.

Detailed Description of the Invention

Figure 1 shows a construction scheme of a liposuction device.

The construction of the liposuction device consists of: (1) - a passive tubular nozzle with longitudinal openings (2), rigidly connected to the handle of the device (5) and inside it a tube (cannula) (4) with openings (3) in the distal part is placed slidably through a sliding contact, and the other open part is rigidly fixed in the disc (6), which is slidably mounted inside the handle (5), moreover, a spring (7) is placed between the disc (6) and the inside of the rear wall of the handle, and the open end of the tube (cannula) (4) via a flexible corrugated tube (8) is connected to a nozzle (9) rigidly installed in the central rear part of the handle (5), which ensures the vacuum created by the vacuum pump (14), from which the fat sucked out through the flexible tube (10) enters the working tank of the vacuum pump (14). A flexible metal rod (11) is passed through the nozzle (9), one end of the metal rod is rigidly attached to the distal inner part of the tube (cannula) (4) and the other end is rigidly connected to an ultrasonic energy-transmitting drive (13), which is connected to the moving part of a linear drive, also, a flexible metal rod (11) between the nozzle (9) and the linear drive housing (16) is slidably disposed in the flexible armor (12), and between the ultrasonic energy-transmitting drive (13) and the linear drive housing (16) is housed in a flexible corrugated tube (17), which ensures the vacuum created by the vacuum pump (14).

Compared to its analogues, this new liposuction device increases the efficiency of liposuction, reduces patient's trauma and the surgeon's need for physical energy to perform the operation.

Brief Description of the Drawing

The invention is explained in the figure:

Fig.1 - presents a construction scheme of a liposuction device.