Inflatable Balloon With Reinforcing Strips For Shape Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical balloons, particularly high-compliance and low-compliance balloons, face issues such as inadequate pressure resistance, poor shape control, and vulnerability to punctures and tears, which can lead to complications during medical procedures like Balloon Aortic Valvuloplasty and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation.
Innovation Solution
The development of an inflatable balloon design featuring a cylindrical section, a conical section, and circumferential fibers with reinforcing strips that include fibers extending at an angle, providing enhanced strength and shape control, along with a spherical reinforcement cap and a layered structure for improved durability and resistance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If high-compliance balloon material (urethane, latex, silicone) is used to allow easy expansion, then the balloon can expand several times in volume between zero and burst pressure, but the balloon walls have low tensile strength and thin out as the balloon expands, creating excessive risk of balloon failure
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon is constructed using composite materials combining an elastomeric base material with high-strength fiber reinforcement (aramid, carbon fiber, or glass fiber). This composite structure allows the balloon to achieve both high expandability and maintained tensile strength, as the fibers prevent wall thinning and provide structural support during expansion.
Solution Approach 2:
The reinforcement fibers are strategically positioned in specific regions of the balloon where stress concentrations occur during expansion. This localized reinforcement provides strength exactly where needed while maintaining the overall compliance and expandability of the balloon structure.
2Ease of operation
If traditional high-compliance balloon material is used, then the balloon can expand easily, but the balloon provides insufficient force to complete procedures and cannot reach high pressures
Solution Approach 1:
The combination of elastomeric material with high-strength fibers creates a composite structure that maintains ease of expansion while significantly increasing the force the balloon can generate. The fibers reinforce the walls to withstand high pressures up to 300 psi or more while the elastomeric base provides flexibility and expandability.
3Stress or pressure
If PET material is used for low-compliance high-pressure balloons to provide strength, then the balloon can hold high pressures, but the balloon becomes fragile and prone to tears when pressed against hard surfaces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a composite of elastomeric material with flexible high-strength fibers (aramid, carbon fiber, or glass fiber) that provides both pressure resistance and puncture/tear resistance. The elastomeric base material provides flexibility and resistance to sharp surfaces, while the fiber reinforcement maintains structural integrity under high pressure.
Solution Approach 2:
The balloon structure is designed to maintain optimal wall thickness parameters during expansion, preventing the wall thinning that occurs in traditional balloons. The fiber reinforcement allows the balloon to withstand high pressures without requiring excessive wall thickness, maintaining a balance between pressure resistance and flexibility.
4Volume of moving object
If PET material is used to create thin-walled balloons (5 μm to 50 μm) for low profile, then the balloon can be made very thin, but the balloon becomes difficult to pack or fold into small diameter and has poor trackability
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber reinforcement allows the balloon to maintain structural integrity with optimized wall thickness, enabling the balloon to be packed and folded into small diameters while maintaining trackability. The fibers provide strength without requiring excessive wall thickness, allowing the balloon to conform to tortuous vessels.
5Adaptability or versatility
If high-compliance balloon is used, then the balloon can expand easily, but the balloon has poor shape control and assumes shape dictated by environment rather than clinical goals
Solution Approach 1:
The fiber reinforcement is strategically positioned in specific regions of the balloon to control shape in critical areas while allowing expansion in others. This localized reinforcement provides shape control where needed while maintaining overall expandability and compliance.
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 balloon achieves higher burst pressure resistance, precise shape control, and improved puncture and tear resistance, ensuring safer and more effective medical procedures by maintaining structural integrity under high pressures.
Implementation Method 1
High-compliance, or highly elastic medical balloons typically cannot reach high pressures because their walls have a low tensile strength
Implementation Method 2
High-compliance medical balloons can easily expand several times in volume between zero inflation pressure and burst. Once the pressure is reduced, the high-compliance medical balloon may return to its original shape
Data Source
AI summary
An inflatable balloon includes a base balloon having a cylindrical section and a conical section and at least one circumferential fiber extending circumferentially around the conical section. The inflatable balloon includes a plurality of reinforcing strips in the conical section over the at least one circumferential fiber. Each reinforcing strip includes a plurality of fibers extending at an angle relative to the at least one fiber. Each reinforcing strip is positioned a set circumferential distance away from a neighboring reinforcing strip.