Bendable Remote Gripping Tool for Clot Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for treating blood clots and thromboembolisms are often ineffective, time-consuming, and prone to complications such as distal embolization, vessel damage, and incomplete clot capture, particularly in small or tortuous blood vessels, due to their inflexibility and complex constructions.
Innovation Solution
A selectively bendable remote access gripping tool with a pair of nets or jaws that can be moved between clamped and open positions, connected to a handle via a bendable central portion, allowing for secure capture and removal of blood clots without the need for suction or energy application, and equipped with cutting implements to reduce clot size for easier extraction.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If current medical devices are used to treat blood clots, then the treatment can be performed, but the procedure is time-consuming and prone to complications
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into distinct functional segments: a delivery catheter for navigation, an expandable basket for clot capture, and a retrieval mechanism. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized for its specific function, enabling rapid deployment and retrieval while maintaining procedural safety through controlled expansion and capture mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
The device performs preliminary navigation and positioning of the clot capture basket to the occlusion site before actual clot engagement. The guidewire and delivery catheter system allows pre-positioning, and the basket can be expanded in advance to prepare for clot capture, reducing overall procedure time while ensuring accurate targeting to prevent complications
2Adaptability or versatility
If inflexible devices are used to access tortuous blood vessels, then the device structure remains simple, but the device cannot reach interior portions of anatomy
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a flexible delivery catheter with a corrugated or articulated shaft that can navigate tortuous blood vessels. The catheter wall is designed with flexible materials and structural features (such as corrugations or segmented sections) that allow bending and articulation while maintaining structural integrity, enabling access to interior portions of anatomy without requiring complex jointed mechanisms
Solution Approach 2:
A guidewire serves as an intermediary element that facilitates navigation through tortuous vessels to the target site. The flexible delivery catheter is advanced over the guidewire, allowing the system to reach difficult-to-access locations while the guidewire provides a stable track. This intermediary approach simplifies the overall device construction compared to self-steering mechanisms
3Adaptability or versatility
If complex jointed connections are used to facilitate flexibility, then the tool can adjust to various angles, but the construction becomes complicated and costly
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using multiple jointed connections, the device employs a flexible catheter shaft with corrugated or articulated construction that provides continuous angular adjustment capability. The flexible material and structural design allow the shaft to bend and articulate smoothly through various angles while maintaining a simple, integrated construction without discrete joints or complex mechanical connections
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a static, rigid structure with fixed joints to a dynamic, flexible shaft that can continuously adjust its configuration. The flexible catheter allows real-time angular adjustments along its length, providing adaptability similar to jointed connections but with a simpler, more integrated construction that eliminates the need for multiple discrete mechanical joints
4Reliability
If current clot treatment devices are used, then treatment can be attempted, but incomplete clot capture and distal embolization occur
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses a nested structure where the clot capture basket is contained within the delivery catheter during navigation. Upon deployment, the basket expands outward to envelop the clot completely. The nested design ensures that the clot is fully captured within the basket structure, preventing incomplete capture and reducing the risk of distal embolization during retrieval
Solution Approach 2:
The device converts the potential harm of clot fragmentation into a benefit by using the expandable basket structure to contain and secure fragmented clot material. If the clot breaks during capture or retrieval, the basket walls prevent distal embolization by trapping the fragments, thereby converting what would be a harmful event into a controlled situation that maintains procedural safety
Data Source
AI summary
A hand-held gripping device that allows a surgeon to reach interior portions of a person's anatomy, includes a gripping portion having a pair of jaws and/or nets movable relative to each other between fully clamped and fully opened positions thereof, a handle portion spaced apart from the jaw portion by a bendable central portion that is hollow and corrugated, with a cord extending therethrough.