The Intranasal Cleaning Sheath: Streamlining Nasal Endoscopic Procedures

Endoscopic surgery has become a more accurate and less invasive surgical option due to the development of new technologies. A rigid nasal endoscope allows surgeons to visualize the sinuses and nasal cavity during minimally invasive sinonasal procedures. However, due to the vascular structure of the nose, frequent nasal bleeding occurs during procedures. This bleeding, along with mucus, can obstruct the endoscope lens, forcing surgeons to remove and clean the endoscope approximately every three to five minutes. This process significantly compromises the surgeon's view, prolongs the procedure, and increases the risk of complications. Soiling of the endoscopic lens during procedures was considered troublesome by 68% of surgeons who use endoscopes in their surgeries. Our solution allows the endoscope lens to be cleaned inside the patient's nasal cavity, reducing procedure time, hospital costs, and surgeon frustration, and ensuring patient safety. The design consists of a base adapter and attachment piece that secures the device to a rigid nasal endoscope. From this base adapter, irrigation and vibration travel the length of the scope body through a sheath and clears the lens of any blood and residue that is obstructing the surgeon's field of vision. We tested the ability of our device to clear the endoscope lens against gauze, which is the most common lens-cleaning technique. We found there to be no statistically significant difference between the cleaning accuracy of our device and the gauze. However, our device still solves the problem area since it can accurately clean the endoscope lens while remaining inside of the nasal cavity, decreasing the amount of hospital resources used, surgeon frustration, and the risk of patient injury.
Additional Co-Authors: Farah Elgala