Anchoring Device for Boring Tool Central Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive techniques for unblocking occluded blood vessels are costly and require specialized equipment and trained personnel, with guide wires often losing central position, leading to potential vessel perforation and bleeding due to calcified occlusions.
Innovation Solution
An anchoring device with an expandable element and guide element that can be attached to a balloon catheter, allowing a boring tool to be securely positioned and advanced through occlusions, maintaining central alignment and reducing the risk of vessel damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a stiff guide wire is manually urged through a calcified occlusion, then the guide wire can penetrate the occlusion, but the guide wire may slide to one side and cause vessel dissection or perforation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary device (the catheter with central lumen and positioning mechanism) that mediates between the operator and the guide wire. This intermediary provides a controlled pathway through the occlusion, preventing the guide wire from sliding to one side and causing vessel damage, while still enabling penetration of the calcified occlusion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the purely manual mechanical urging of a stiff guide wire with a more controlled system involving a catheter with central lumen, positioning mechanism, and controlled advancement. This substitution reduces reliance on operator skill and manual control while maintaining the ability to penetrate calcified occlusions safely.
2Reliability
If laser catheters or radio frequency guide wires are used to pass through calcified occlusions, then the occlusion can be penetrated, but expensive external power packs and highly trained personnel are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a disposable or single-use catheter system that eliminates the need for expensive external power packs and complex laser or radio frequency equipment. The catheter itself contains the necessary functionality for penetrating calcified occlusions through its structural design, reducing both equipment cost and personnel training requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complex power supply and control systems from the occlusion penetration process, replacing them with a self-contained catheter design that achieves penetration through its mechanical structure alone. This extraction eliminates the need for expensive external power packs and highly trained personnel while maintaining effective penetration capability.
3Productivity
If the guide wire is advanced into engagement with a hard occlusion, then the occlusion can be traversed, but the guide wire may exit the wall of the blood vessel and cause internal bleeding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent provides prior cushioning and protection by designing a catheter system with a central lumen and positioning mechanism that prevents the guide wire from deviating into the vessel wall. The system is configured beforehand to ensure controlled advancement through the occlusion, cushioning against the harmful effect of vessel perforation and internal bleeding.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter with central lumen serves as an intermediary that mediates between the guide wire and the vessel wall, preventing direct contact that could cause perforation. This intermediary structure ensures the guide wire remains centered and controlled during traversal, eliminating the risk of the guide wire exiting the vessel wall and causing bleeding.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The anchoring device enables cost-effective, precise navigation and expansion of occlusions without the need for expensive external power sources or highly trained personnel, reducing the risk of vessel perforation and internal bleeding.
Implementation Method 1
an expandable element adapted for expanding in the lumen or vessel to anchor the anchoring device therein
Implementation Method 2
a guide element defining a guide bore extending therethrough to accommodate one of a boring tool and a carrier element of the boring tool for guiding the boring tool
Implementation Method 3
an engagement means associated with one of the guide element and the expandable element for engaging one of the boring tool and the carrier element of the boring tool so that the boring tool is urgeable outwardly of the guide element against the anchoring device
Data Source
AI summary
An anchoring device (1) for anchoring a boring tool (3) in a lumen (4) for boring through an occlusion (6) in the lumen (4) comprises an expandable element (18) adapted for securing to a balloon (12) of a balloon catheter (8) adjacent a distal end (7) thereof. The expandable element (18) is expandable and contractible with the balloon (12) of the balloon catheter (8) for engaging the lumen and for anchoring the anchoring device (1) in the lumen (4). A guide element (33) extends coaxially from the expandable element (18), and a guide bore (34) extending through the guide element (33) is provided with an internal primary screw thread (35) for engaging a corresponding external screw thread (36) on the boring tool (3). A carrier wire (45) extends from the boring tool (3) through a central lumen (15) of the balloon catheter (8), so that rotation of the boring tool (3) by the guide wire (45) when the threads (35,36) are engaged results in the boring tool being urged through the occlusion (6) for forming an opening therethrough.