Bendable Thrombus Gripper for Tortuous Vessel Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical devices for treating blood clots and thrombi are often ineffective, time-consuming, and pose risks such as vessel damage, distal embolization, and complications from thrombus dislodgment, particularly in small and tortuous vessels, lacking optimal design for rapid and secure clot capture.
Innovation Solution
A selectively bendable remote access gripping tool with a pair of jaws or nets and a bendable central portion, featuring a corrugated member and a cord, allows for flexible navigation and secure thrombus capture without requiring retraction into a catheter, enabling rapid and safe removal of clots and stones from various body lumens.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If prior art devices are used to reach interior portions of anatomy, then grasping capability is achieved, but device complexity increases due to rails and jointed connections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible shaft constructed from multiple articulated segments that can bend and flex to navigate anatomical passages. This flexible shell structure replaces complex rigid rails and jointed connections, achieving grasping capability in interior portions of anatomy while reducing overall device complexity. The flexible shaft allows the distal end to reach target locations through curved paths without requiring complex mechanical joints.
2Reliability
If current thrombus treatment devices are used, then treatment can be performed, but treatment time increases and complications arise
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates a pre-formed capture structure (such as a basket or net) that is deployed at the thrombus location before attempting to retrieve it. This preliminary deployment of the capture structure allows for immediate engagement and securement of the thrombus, eliminating the need for time-consuming manipulation and reducing the risk of thrombus dislodgment during the retrieval process.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention directly extracts the thrombus from the blood vessel using a dedicated capture and retrieval mechanism. The device engages the thrombus with a capture structure, secures it, and then retrieves it in one continuous motion, removing the thrombus from the vessel without requiring multiple steps or prolonged treatment time, thereby reducing complications.
3Reliability
If rigid gripping tools are used, then secure grasping is achieved, but navigation through tortuous vessels becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft of the device is divided into multiple articulated segments that can flex relative to each other. This segmentation allows the shaft to bend and follow the contours of tortuous blood vessels while maintaining structural integrity. The segmented construction enables the distal end with the gripping tool to reach target locations in convoluted anatomy, and the secure grasping function is maintained at the distal end despite the flexibility of the shaft.
Data Source
AI summary
An apparatus for performing a minimally-invasive procedure having a shaft with a flexible portion that extends distally from a handle portion and an actuatable tool head assembly that includes a sharp cutting implement at its other end. The handle portion includes an actuatable trigger operatively connected to a pull member such that actuation of the trigger moves the pull member and selectively positions the actuatable tool head assembly.