Angioplasty Balloon Non-Uniform Thickness Folding
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional angioplasty balloons often fail to collapse reliably after deflation, leading to difficulties in removal from the patient's vessel, as they may become caught in the introducer sheath due to their flattened configuration.
Innovation Solution
A balloon with a non-uniform thickness is developed, comprising relatively thin and thick sections around its circumference, allowing it to fold into wings upon deflation, facilitating a reduced diameter profile and easier retrieval by maintaining a substantially cylindrical shape both before and after inflation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional uniform-thickness balloon is used, then the balloon maintains structural integrity during inflation, but the balloon fails to collapse reliably after deflation and becomes difficult to remove from the vessel
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon incorporates sections of non-uniform wall thickness, with thinner sections strategically positioned to facilitate controlled collapse and folding after deflation. This local variation in thickness allows the balloon to reliably collapse while maintaining sufficient thickness in other areas for structural integrity during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The balloon wall is segmented into multiple sections with different thicknesses, creating distinct functional zones. The thinner sections act as collapse-initiation zones that fold preferentially, while thicker sections maintain structural support, enabling reliable collapse into a compact configuration for easy removal.
2Ease of operation
If the balloon wall thickness is made non-uniform to improve collapse, then the balloon achieves reduced radial profile after deflation, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The invention varies the wall thickness parameter along the balloon circumference to create thinner and thicker sections. This parameter change enables the balloon to collapse reliably into a reduced radial profile configuration, facilitating easy retrieval from the vessel while maintaining a relatively simple overall balloon structure.
3Reliability
If a non-uniform balloon mold is used to create variable thickness, then the balloon achieves folded configuration upon deflation, but the mold complexity and manufacturing difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a complex non-uniform mold, the invention applies local quality variations directly to the balloon wall thickness during manufacturing. This approach achieves the desired folded configuration upon deflation while avoiding the need for complex mold geometries, thereby simplifying the manufacturing process.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a balloon having a non-uniform thickness that is adapted to facilitate folding of the balloon. The balloon comprises at least one relatively thin section formed between inner and outer surfaces of the balloon, and at least one relatively thick section formed between the inner and outer surfaces. The balloon may be formed from a balloon preform that similarly comprises at least one relatively thin section and at least one relatively thick section. The shape of the balloon preform may be formed, for example, by extrusion. The balloon preform may be placed in a balloon mold having a substantially cylindrical interior surface, and blow-molded to form the finished balloon configuration. The balloon comprises a non-uniform thickness, while comprising a substantially cylindrical outer diameter both after removal from the balloon mold and in an inflated state.