Active acoustic streaming in hand piece for occlusion surge mitigation

1. An acoustic streaming arrangement operable to provide supplemental irrigation fluid flow to a surgical site, the acoustic streaming arrangement comprising:

an irrigation conduit configured to carry an irrigation fluid to a surgical site;

an acoustic chamber in fluid communication with the irrigation conduit via a first shunt line at a first end of the acoustic chamber and a second shunt line at a second end of the acoustic chamber;

a flow generator disposed in the acoustic chamber, the flow generator having a sharp edge; and

a driving device configured to selectively vibrate the flow generator to create a streaming fluid flow in a direction away from the sharp edge through the irrigation conduit.

2. The acoustic streaming arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the flow generator comprises two nonparallel surfaces forming an angle.

3. The acoustic streaming arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the two nonparallel surfaces converge to form the sharp edge.

4. The acoustic streaming arrangement of claim 2 , wherein the sharp edge defines an angle of 90 degrees or less.

5. The acoustic streaming arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the driving device is configured to vibrate the flow generator at a resonance frequency of the flow generator.

6. The acoustic streaming arrangement of claim 1 , wherein the driving device is one of a piezoelectric stack and a coil.

7. A surgical system, comprising:

an irrigation conduit configured to provide irrigation fluid to a surgical site; and

an acoustic streaming arrangement disposed in an acoustic chamber adjacent to and in fluid communication with the irrigation conduit;

a supplemental fluid flow generated by the acoustic streaming arrangement and introduced into the irrigation conduit via a shunt line, the supplemental fluid flow provided to the surgical site via the irrigation conduit.

8. The surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a hand-held surgical instrument, the acoustic streaming arrangement being disposed on the hand-held surgical instrument.

9. The surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising a driving device,

wherein the acoustic streaming arrangement comprises a flow generator, and

wherein the driving device is configured to vibrate the flow generator to provide the supplemental fluid flow to the surgical site.

10. The surgical system of claim 9 , wherein the flow generator comprises two nonparallel surfaces forming an angle.

11. The surgical system of claim 10 , wherein the two nonparallel surfaces converge to form a sharp edge.

12. The surgical system of claim 11 , wherein the sharp edge defines an angle of 90 degrees or less.

13. The surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising an aspiration conduit configured to extend from the surgical site and operable to conduct fluid away from the surgical site.

14. The surgical system of claim 7 , further comprising:

an irrigation system operable to direct irrigating fluid to an eye for a phacoemulsification procedure, the irrigation conduit being a part of the irrigation system;

an aspiration system operable to aspirate fluid from the eye during a phacoemulsification procedure; and

a phacoemulsification hand piece carrying the acoustic streaming arrangement, the hand piece being connected to both the irrigation system and the aspiration system.