Lamp cartridge for surgical instrument

In association with our client, tissuemed®, we designed the tissuemed 180 Lightsource and an applicator for a revolutionary new surgical sealant, tissuebond™.

The sealant is activated using a purpose designed medical light, the tissuemed 180 Lightsource that houses a 180W Xenon. The lamp is critical to the operation and in a worst-case scenario might need replacing while in surgery, in addition there are critical performance requirements such as, the instrument requiring the focal point for the sensitive optics to be extremely precisely positioned and the bulb itself needs to be protected from contact with hands or other objects and can get very hot in use.

The solution DCA developed for the 180 Lightsource was to store a replacement lamp within the instrument with the 180W Xenon element held in cartridge assembly including a highly accurate 3-point datum positioning system independent from the simple-to-use sprung loaded housing, thus enabling someone in theatre to quickly and easily swap the lamp cartridge if needed. This aspect of the design was proven using simple rigs, built early in the development process.