Balloon Catheter Weld Design for Low Profile and Leak Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing balloon catheters face challenges in achieving a reliable seal between the balloon and the catheter shaft, leading to potential leakage and pressure loss during inflation, and have a bulky transition region due to uneven folding and thickness changes.
Innovation Solution
A balloon catheter design where the balloon is folded to form pleats and welded directly to both the outer and inner shafts, using heat shrink material to ensure a secure and smooth weld, eliminating air pockets and providing a low-profile, flexible connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If the balloon is folded after welding onto the shafts, then the balloon can be compressed to a small outer diameter, but a relatively bulky transition region is created between the center region and the cone
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon is folded to form pleats before welding onto the shafts. This preliminary folding action allows the balloon to be compressed to a small outer diameter while maintaining a smooth transition region, as the pleats are formed in the folded state rather than creating bulk after welding.
Solution Approach 2:
The balloon is divided into pleats through folding, creating segmented structures that allow compression to a small diameter. The pleats are distributed along the balloon surface, enabling compact storage while maintaining structural integrity and smooth transitions.
2Volume of moving object
If the balloon is folded after welding, then the center region can be compressed, but the cone regions remain unfolded creating a bulky transition zone
Solution Approach 1:
The pleats are formed in the balloon before welding to the shafts. This preliminary formation of pleats ensures that when the balloon is compressed, the transition zones between the center region and cone regions remain smooth and compact, avoiding bulky transitions that would occur if folding happened after welding.
3Reliability
If the balloon is welded to the shafts before folding, then the seal can be formed, but the transition region becomes bulky due to bunching and thickness changes
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon is folded to form pleats before welding to the shafts. This sequence ensures that the seal is formed in the folded configuration, allowing the pleats to be distributed evenly and creating a smooth transition region without bunching or abrupt thickness changes that would occur with post-welding folding.
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 solution enhances the seal integrity, prevents leakage, and reduces the bulky transition region, allowing for consistent pressure retention and smooth inflation/deflation, while maintaining flexibility and a low profile.
Implementation Method 1
In some embodiments, at least a portion of heat shrink material 116 is applied to the weld region 120. The heat shrink material 116 is shrunk over the folded balloon 100 and shaft 118
Implementation Method 2
the folded balloon 100 is welded to the shaft(s) 118
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2~3
Figure 4
AI summary
A balloon catheter that has at least one shaft, and a balloon. The balloon has a first weld region, a first cone region, a middle region, a second cone region and a second weld region where the first weld region engages the balloon to the at least one shaft, the first region is adjacent to the first weld region, the middle region is between the first cone region and the second cone region, the second cone region is adjacent to the second weld region, and the second weld region engages the balloon to at least one shaft. The balloon has an uninflated state and an inflated state, where the balloon has at least one fold extending from the first weld region to the second weld region in the uninflated state and the first and second cone regions of the balloon have at least one fold in the inflated state.