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Abstract: The primary objective of this project is to design, construct, and test a prototypical, disposable irrigation/suction pencil for Byrne Medical, which is to aid in the suction and irrigation of laparoscopic surgeries. This device may or may not be adopted by the company, and subsequently, marketed to hospitals around the United States. Byrne Medical, Inc. of Conroe, Texas is best known for its Endo SmartCap and Endo Gator products, which are disposable, sterile water bottle caps that include tubing. These products are used to adapt a variety of medical devices to accommodate disposable water bottle attachments.
The requirements stipulated by Byrne is that the device should be no greater than the rough
dimensions of a dry-erase marker, which corresponds to a diameter not to exceed one inch and a
length of less than 6 inches. The device must be equipped with enough tubing to supply both
the water for irrigation and a means of conveyance for any suctioned material to and from the
Byrne Medical pump respectively. 
Byrne Medical has agreed to modulate their pump's
configuration to accommodate any particular design idiosyncrasies so that the team will not
work on the mechanics of the pump. Byrne will supply requirements for flow output and suction
magnitude. The design is to incorporate different spray settings for the irrigation stream.
Some settings suggested by Byrne include: shower, stream, and jet. Byrne has also specified
that the device should be easily disposable; and therefore, must not be made of anything with
rigorous disposal protocols. The device must also be relatively inexpensive to reproduce
since it is to be marketed as a disposable device and will therefore most likely be sold in
bulk to consumers.
Following patent searches, it was concluded that while there are a few similar device patents already in place, very few have the particular specification of being both disposable and intended for surgical procedures. Most similar irrigation and suction device patents have the caveat of being designed specifically for use with electrosurgical devices.
Another key component of our device design and implementation will be the preliminary design and experimental prototype testing calculations including: required flow rate and speed for the irrigation portal, negative pressure requirements for the suction portal, and general flow calculations such as wall shear stresses of both the suction and irrigation portal. Based on our design dimensions, the ranges of pressures supplied by the pump, and the Bernoulli flow equations, we expect flow rates ranging from 0.113 in3/s and 0.252 in3/s.
