Balloon Ablation Catheter Vibration Stirring for Temperature Uniformity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Ablation catheters with balloons face challenges in maintaining uniform balloon surface temperature, leading to prolonged procedures and patient burden, especially when balloon size varies, and existing vibration imparting devices are inefficient in achieving quick temperature uniformity.
Innovation Solution
A method involving periodic suction and ejection of a small volume of heating liquid within a predetermined range, with the vibration imparting device repeating the process 1 to 5 times per second, to maintain uniform balloon surface temperature by adjusting the volume of liquid ejected relative to the balloon's expansion volume, ensuring a quotient of 2 to 9.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a vibration imparting device is used to maintain uniform balloon surface temperature, then temperature uniformity is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The liquid for heating itself serves as the vibration transmission medium. When the vibration imparting device vibrates the balloon, the liquid for heating inside the balloon automatically transmits and distributes the vibration throughout the balloon volume, eliminating the need for separate vibration transmission mechanisms. This self-service approach maintains temperature uniformity while avoiding additional device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the liquid for heating as a hydraulic medium to transmit vibration throughout the balloon. The liquid for heating fills the balloon and acts as a coupling medium that efficiently transmits mechanical vibration from the vibration imparting device to the entire balloon surface, ensuring uniform temperature distribution without requiring complex mechanical vibration transmission structures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the balloon size is adjusted arbitrarily to match patient characteristics, then adaptability is improved, but maintaining uniform temperature becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts to different balloon sizes by adjusting the vibration frequency and amplitude based on the actual balloon dimensions. The vibration imparting device incorporates control mechanisms that detect balloon size variations and automatically modify vibration parameters to maintain optimal temperature uniformity across different balloon scales, enabling the system to handle various patient anatomies effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes physical parameters of the vibration process (frequency, amplitude, duration) according to the balloon size. When the balloon size varies, the system adjusts these vibration parameters to ensure that the energy distribution remains uniform across the balloon surface, thereby maintaining effective temperature control regardless of the specific balloon dimensions used for different patients.
3Reliability
If vibration is imparted to achieve temperature uniformity, then treatment efficacy is improved, but procedure time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vibration imparting device operates continuously throughout the heating process rather than intermittently. This continuous vibration ensures constant temperature uniformity across the balloon surface during the entire ablation procedure, eliminating the need for stopping and restarting the vibration mechanism. The continuous useful action maintains treatment efficacy while optimizing procedure time by avoiding interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The vibration is imparted to the balloon before and during the heating process to pre-establish temperature uniformity. By applying vibration in advance and maintaining it throughout heating, the system prevents temperature gradients from forming in the first place, rather than needing to correct them afterward. This preliminary action ensures immediate treatment efficacy upon heating initiation and reduces overall procedure time.
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
This approach effectively maintains uniform balloon surface temperature across various sizes, reducing procedure time and improving treatment efficacy by eliminating uneven ablation regions and minimizing patient burden.
Implementation Method 1
a heating electrode arranged in the interior of the balloon, a heating device applying an electric energy to the heating electrode
Implementation Method 2
a vibration imparting device imparting the vibration to the liquid for heating by periodically repeating suction and ejection of the liquid for heating from the lumen
Data Source
AI summary
Provided is an ablation catheter system with a balloon which can improve the effect of therapy by ablation by eliminating variation in the surface temperature of a balloon in the ablation catheter with a balloon which cauterizes the tissue. An ablation catheter system with a balloon comprising a catheter shaft, a balloon fixed to the catheter shaft, a lumen which penetrates the catheter shaft in the direction of the long axis and communicates with the interior of the balloon, a heating electrode arranged in the balloon, a heating device which applies electrical energy to the heating electrode, and a vibration imparting device which imparts a vibration to the heating liquid by periodically repeating suction and ejection of the heating liquid from the lumen. Also provided is a stirring method for stirring the heating liquid by vibration wherein the vibration is imparted in such a manner that the value obtained by dividing the volume of the heating liquid being ejected toward the balloon by single ejection by the expansion volume of the balloon and then multiplying the quotient by 100 becomes 2-9.