Design of a Safer Trocar for use in Primary Port Insertion in Laparoscopic Surgery

Laparoscopic surgery is a minimally invasive procedure performed on the abdomen, which requires puncturing a thin stretchy membrane called the peritoneum with a trocar. Of the 13 million laparoscopic procedures performed annually, 43,000 result in injury to the bowel or abdominal vasculature. These injuries are largely due to a lack of precise control for surgeons when piercing the peritoneum. As a trocar is pushed against the peritoneum, the layer deforms until failure which can result in the trocar accelerating through the peritoneal layer quickly, often traveling a significant depth into a patient’s peritoneal cavity. We developed a trocar model that utilizes a needle and expandable legs in order to allow the surgeon to cut the peritoneum in a controlled manner, reducing risk of intra abdominal injury.