Tiny pins secure vein couplerTiny pins secure vein coupler

Farmingdale, NY -A mechanical coupling for reattaching veins, arteries, and nerves severed during surgery depends on micro-machined pins insert-molded into polyethylene rings. The microvascular coupler from MCA (Birmingham, AL) rejoins severed vessels ranging in size from 0.8- to 3.6-mm in as little as two minutes-one-tenth the time required with conventional suturing, according to James R. Urbaniak of Duke University Medical Center, who has performed 1,400 of these procedures.

"Getting the patient off of the operating table sooner reduces the risk of complication, and saves between $15 and $20 per minute," explains Urbaniak. "And the success rate has been above 99%."

The coupling devices are 1 to 3 mm in diameter, yet contain numerous high-precision machined and injection-molded components. The most challenging has six pins, each with a 0.16-mm (0.0062-inch) shaft diameter. American Laubscher Corp. claims it produces these pins at ten times the speed and accuracy of conventional CNC lathes. A Minneapolis-based plastics manufacturer, McKechnie Plastic Components, insert-molds these stainless-steel pins into rings.

According to MCA President Mike Campbell, the device is suitable for use in end-to-end vessel reattachment (anastomosis), arterial/ venous interpositional vein grafts, and end-to-side vessel anastomosis. In end-to-end anastomosis, the surgeon feeds the end of each vessel through the center of an appropriately sized ring, then pushes the pins through the vessel wall from the outer to the inner surface. Closing the coupling device brings the two rings into opposition so that each set of pins becomes seated into the opposite ring.

For more information about micro-machined parts from American Laubscher: Enter 534

For more information about plastic components from McKechnie: Enter 535