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Combined micro and macro additive manufacturing of a swirling flow coaxial phacoemulsifier sleeve with internal micro-vanes

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Abstract

Microstereolithography (µSL) technology can fabricate complex, three-dimensional (3D) microstructures, although µSL has difficulty producing macrostructures with micro-scale features. There are potentially many applications where 3D micro-features can benefit the overall function of the macrostructure. One such application involves a medical device called a coaxial phacoemulsifier where the tip of the phacoemulsifier is inserted into the eye through a relatively small incision and used to break the lens apart while removing the lens pieces and associated fluid from the eye through a small tube. In order to maintain the eye at a constant pressure, the phacoemulsifier also includes an irrigation solution that is injected into the eye during the procedure through a coaxial sleeve. It has been reported, however, that the impinging flow from the irrigation solution on the corneal endothelial cells in the inner eye can damage these cells during the procedure. As a result, a method for reducing the impinging flow velocities and the resulting shear stresses on the endothelial cells during this procedure was explored, including the design and development of a complex, 3D micro-vane within the sleeve. The micro-vane introduces swirl into the irrigation solution, producing a flow with rapidly dissipating flow velocities. Fabrication of the sleeve and fitting could not be accomplished using µSL alone, and thus, a two-part design was accomplished where a sleeve with the micro-vane was fabricated with µSL and a threaded fitting used to attach the sleeve to the phacoemulsifier was fabricated using an Objet Eden 333 rapid prototyping machine. The new combined device was tested within a water container using particle image velocimetry, and the results showed successful swirling flow with an ejection of the irrigation fluid through the micro-vane in three different radial directions corresponding to the three micro-vanes. As expected, the sleeve produced a swirling flow with rapidly dissipating streamwise flow velocities where the maximum measured streamwise flow velocities using the micro-vane were lower than those without the micro-vane by 2 mm from the tip where they remained at ∼70% of those produced by the conventional sleeve as the flow continued to develop. It is believed that this new device will reduce damage to endothelial cells during cataract surgery and significantly improve patient outcomes from this procedure. This unique application demonstrates the utility of combining µSL with a macro rapid prototyping technology for fabricating a real macro-scale device with functional, 3D micro-scale features that would be difficult and costly to fabricate using alternative manufacturing methods.

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Acknowledgements

The work presented here was performed at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso, Texas, U.S.A. within the W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation (Keck Center), and at the University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan. Support to develop the micro-stereolithography system was provided to UTEP through a research contract from the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command and the Homeland Protection Institute to the UTEP Center for Defense Systems Research, funding from the Mr. and Mrs. MacIntosh Murchison Chair I in Engineering Endowment at UTEP, and a donation of the DMD Discovery™ 1100 Controller Board and Starter Kit from Texas Instruments, Inc. We would like to thank Mr. Francisco Medina, Manager of the Keck Center, for fabricating the threaded fitting using the Objet Eden 333 machine. Measurements of the flow velocity field were performed at the University of Tsukuba and this work was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science under Grant No.19360082. The findings and opinions presented in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the sponsors of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA

    Jae-Won Choi & Ryan B. Wicker

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, 500 West University Avenue, El Paso, TX, 79968, USA

    Jae-Won Choi & Ryan B. Wicker

  3. Department of Engineering Mechanics and Energy, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8573, Japan

    Masaki Yamashita & Jun Sakakibara

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennoudai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Yuichi Kaji & Tetsuro Oshika

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  1. Jae-Won Choi
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  2. Masaki Yamashita
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  3. Jun Sakakibara
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Correspondence to Jae-Won Choi.

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Choi, JW., Yamashita, M., Sakakibara, J. et al. Combined micro and macro additive manufacturing of a swirling flow coaxial phacoemulsifier sleeve with internal micro-vanes. Biomed Microdevices 12, 875–886 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10544-010-9442-1

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