Adapter for Electromagnetic Sensor Attachment to Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a need for secure attachment of electromagnetic sensors to guide catheters and other medical devices used in ENT and sinus surgery procedures, such as balloon dilation, to enable precise image-guided navigation within the body.
Innovation Solution
An adapter device that firmly attaches electromagnetic image guidance elements to medical devices, maintaining a fixed spatial relationship between the sensor and the distal portion of the device, allowing for accurate tracking during procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electromagnetic sensors are built into instruments at manufacture, then sensor stability and spatial relationship are maintained, but device complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into separate components: the medical device (e.g., catheter) and the electromagnetic sensor are manufactured independently, then attached together using an adapter or attachment mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized separately while maintaining their spatial relationship through mechanical attachment rather than integration.
2Device complexity
If electromagnetic sensors are attached to instruments prior to use, then device complexity is reduced, but attachment stability and spatial relationship precision deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
An adapter or attachment mechanism serves as an intermediary component between the medical device and the electromagnetic sensor. This intermediary provides a standardized interface that ensures stable attachment and maintains precise spatial relationships without requiring complex integration of the sensor into the device itself.
3Ease of manufacture
If sensors are mounted on proximal portion of guide catheter, then attachment is simplified, but tracking accuracy of distal end deteriorates due to spatial relationship variability
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from mounting sensors only on the proximal portion to a multi-dimensional attachment strategy where sensors can be positioned at multiple locations (proximal, distal, or intermediate portions) of the medical device. This dimensional flexibility allows optimization of both attachment ease and tracking accuracy by selecting the most appropriate sensor position for each specific application.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods wherein an adapter is used to attach an electromagnetic image guidance component to a medical device such that an electromagnetic image guidance system may be used to track the location of the medical device within the body of a human or animal subject.