Annular Cutting Blade Tissue-Removing Catheter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current tissue-removing catheters face challenges in effectively excising plaque tissue from blood vessel walls and other body lumens, particularly in maintaining patency and handling various occlusive, stenotic, or hyperplastic conditions, due to limitations in cutting efficiency and tissue engagement.
Innovation Solution
A tissue-removing catheter with an integrally formed, one-piece tissue-removing element featuring an annular cutting blade with angularly spaced cutting teeth and radially inward shearing members, designed for rotation and axial advancement to engage and shear tissue from the lumen wall, ensuring continuous cutting and efficient removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional tissue-removing catheters are used, then the catheter structure is simpler, but the cutting efficiency and tissue engagement are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting blade is segmented into multiple angularly spaced cutting teeth around the annular structure, allowing simultaneous engagement with tissue at multiple points. This segmentation enables continuous cutting action as the blade rotates, significantly improving cutting efficiency while maintaining a manageable structural complexity through the modular tooth design.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from conventional single-edge or linear cutting structures to a three-dimensional annular cutting blade with teeth distributed around a circular path. This dimensional change allows the cutting edge to engage tissue from multiple angles simultaneously, enhancing cutting efficiency and tissue engagement capability.
2Reliability
If conventional cutting blades are used, then the device is easier to manufacture, but the ability to effectively excise hard plaque tissue is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting teeth are designed with localized geometric features optimized for specific cutting functions, including varying tooth profiles and orientations. This local quality enhancement at critical cutting surfaces improves the ability to excise hard plaque tissue effectively, while the overall blade structure remains manufacturable through standardized formation processes.
3Productivity
If the cutting blade engages tissue continuously, then tissue removal efficiency improves, but the risk of catheter binding or jamming increases
Solution Approach 1:
The annular cutting blade is divided into multiple discrete cutting teeth with gaps between them, allowing tissue debris to pass through and preventing accumulation that could cause binding. This segmented design maintains continuous cutting action for high productivity while reducing the risk of catheter jamming, thereby improving operational reliability.
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 catheter effectively excises tissue by continuously engaging the cutting blade with the tissue, utilizing the shearing members to fracture and remove hard tissue, thereby improving patency of body lumens and addressing diverse occlusive conditions.
Implementation Method 1
the annular cutting edge engages tissue in the body lumen and separates the tissue from the body lumen wall
Implementation Method 2
Leading surfaces of the inner shearing members engage the separated tissue and shear it radially inwardly
Data Source
AI summary
A tissue-removing catheter includes a tissue-removing element operatively connected to a drive shaft for rotation of the tissue-removing element about an axis of rotation in a cutting direction. A tissue-removing head of the tissue-removing element defines an annular cutting blade. In some embodiments, angularly spaced cutting teeth form the cutting blade. Inner shearing members extend radially inward from the cutting blade. As the tissue-removing element rotates in the cutting direction and advances axially through a body lumen, the annular cutting edge separates the tissue from the body lumen wall. Leading surfaces of the inner shearing members shear the separated tissue radially inwardly. In some embodiments, the tissue-removing element is an integrally formed, one-piece body made by removing material from a blank to form the cutting blade and inner shearing members.