Balloon Catheter Electrode Segmentation for Fold Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing balloon catheters with folded electrodes on the surface experience unstable high-frequency conduction due to folding issues, leading to potential treatment instability.
Innovation Solution
A balloon catheter design featuring a shaft with an expandable balloon and electrode pairs on its surface, where the electrode and electrode pair clearances are wider than the electrode widths, reducing the likelihood of balloon folding and ensuring stable treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the balloon is folded for insertion, then the catheter can be inserted into the body, but folds may form on the electrodes causing unstable high-frequency conduction
Solution Approach 1:
The electrode structure is segmented into multiple electrode pairs with clearances between them. This segmentation allows the balloon to be folded during insertion while preventing folds from forming on the electrodes themselves, as the clearances create natural fold lines that bypass the electrode surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the balloon surface have different properties: electrode regions maintain a smooth, fold-resistant configuration while non-electrode regions (clearances) are designed to accommodate folding. This local differentiation ensures that folds occur only in appropriate locations away from the electrodes.
2Area of moving object
If the electrode width is increased to improve treatment coverage, then more area is treated, but the balloon becomes more prone to folding on the electrodes
Solution Approach 1:
The treatment area is segmented into multiple electrode pairs rather than one large continuous electrode. This segmentation allows each individual electrode to maintain optimal width for treatment while the clearances between pairs prevent folding, solving both the coverage and fold-resistance requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The electrode arrangement utilizes the circumferential dimension by spacing multiple electrode pairs around the balloon circumference. This dimensional approach increases total treatment area without requiring each individual electrode to be wider, thereby maintaining fold resistance while achieving comprehensive coverage.
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 design prevents unstable treatments by minimizing balloon folding on electrodes, maintaining consistent high-frequency conduction and improving foldability, thus ensuring effective ablation procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The balloon inserted up to an abnormal site (a surrounding tissue, such as a vessel itself or a focus) in a vessel, such as a blood vessel, responsible for an arrhythmia expands by an expansion fluid, such as saline, supplied therein
Implementation Method 2
The abnormal site is ablated by the high frequency applied to the electrodes in this state
Data Source
AI summary
The balloon catheter includes a shaft to be inserted into a body, a balloon that is attached to a distal end side of the shaft and expandable by a fluid supplied from a proximal end side of the shaft, and an electrode pair that is formed on a surface of the balloon along an axial direction from the proximal end side toward the distal end side. Widths in a circumferential direction of respective band-shaped electrodes are greater than a width of an electrode clearance that separates the respective band-shaped electrodes in the circumferential direction in the electrode pair. A plurality of the electrode pairs are formed on the surface of the balloon. A width of an electrode pair clearance that separates the respective electrode pairs, in the circumferential direction is greater than the width of the electrode clearance.