Complications during childbirth result in the need for clinicians to use ‘assisted delivery’ in over 12% of cases (UK). After more than 50 years in clinical practice, vacuum assisted delivery (VAD) devices remain a mainstay in physically assisting child delivery; sometimes preferred over forceps due to their ease of use and reduced maternal morbidity. Despite their popularity and enduring track-record, VAD devices have shown little evidence of innovation or design change since their inception. In addition, evidence on the safety and functionality of VAD devices remains limited but does present opportunities for improvements to reduce adverse clinical outcomes. Consequently in this review we examine the literature and patent landscape surrounding VAD biomechanics, design evolution and performance from an engineering perspective, aiming to collate the limited but valuable information from a disparate field and provide a series of recommendations to inform future research into improved, safer, VAD systems.

分娩期间的并发症导致临床医生需要在超过 12% 的病例中使用“辅助分娩”（英国）。经过 50 多年的临床实践，真空辅助分娩 (VAD) 设备仍然是物理辅助分娩的中流砥柱；有时比镊子更受欢迎，因为它们易于使用并降低了产妇发病率。尽管 VAD 设备广受欢迎并拥有持久的业绩记录，但自问世以来，几乎没有任何创新或设计变化的迹象。此外，关于 VAD 设备安全性和功能性的证据仍然有限，但确实提供了改进以减少不良临床结果的机会。因此，在这篇综述中，我们从工程角度研究了围绕 VAD 生物力学、设计演变和性能的文献和专利格局，