Flexible Medical Probes With Beveled Tips for Stable Brain Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional medical probes, particularly microcapillaries, face challenges in precise insertion and handling due to their high aspect ratio, leading to buckling and breakage during unsupported insertion, and they are not effectively unsupported by the use of larger guide tubes or shuttles, which negate the benefits of reduced trauma and scarring.
Innovation Solution
Development of flexible medical probes with a beveled tip and outer diameters of 80 μm or less, allowing independent steering without a guide tube, utilizing a defined relationship between bevel angle and trajectory curvature for precise insertion into soft tissues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If conventional microcapillaries with high aspect ratio are used, then probe size is minimized to reduce trauma, but the probes buckle and break during unsupported insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The probe is pre-shaped with a curved trajectory and beveled tip geometry before insertion. This preliminary configuration enables the thin probe to naturally follow the desired insertion path without requiring real-time control or support structures, resolving the contradiction between minimal size and insertion stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe incorporates a pre-formed curved trajectory and beveled tip instead of a straight configuration. This curvature allows the thin probe to bend smoothly along the predetermined path during insertion, preventing buckling and breakage while maintaining minimal probe dimensions.
2Reliability
If larger guide tubes or shuttles are used to support insertion, then probe stability is improved, but trauma and scarring increase
Solution Approach 1:
The solution extracts and eliminates the need for guide tubes or shuttles by incorporating all necessary guidance functionality directly into the probe itself through pre-shaping and beveled tip geometry. This removal of external support structures eliminates the associated tissue trauma while maintaining insertion stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe is designed to be self-guiding through its pre-formed curved trajectory and beveled tip, which enable it to navigate the insertion path autonomously without requiring external guide tubes or shuttles. This self-service capability eliminates the need for traumatic support structures while ensuring reliable insertion.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If thin probes are used to minimize trauma, then insertion trauma is reduced, but precise steering and targeting become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The probe is pre-configured with a specific curved trajectory and beveled tip angle matched to the target site geometry before insertion. This preliminary customization enables precise steering and accurate targeting despite the probe's thin dimensions, as the probe naturally follows the predetermined optimal path to the target.
Solution Approach 2:
The probe geometry parameters (curvature radius, beveled tip angle, trajectory shape) are specifically optimized and customized for each target site. By adjusting these parameters, the thin probe achieves precise steering capability and accurate targeting while maintaining minimal trauma, as the geometric parameters are tailored to the specific insertion requirements.
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
Enables precise, trauma-reducing insertion and minimizes glial scarring, facilitating deeper and more accurate targeting of soft tissue sites, such as the brain, without real-time imaging guidance.
Implementation Method 1
the distal end portion comprises a beveled tip such that the distal end portion of the medical probe can be steered independently to a target site in the soft tissue
Data Source
AI summary
A medical probe for guided insertion into soft tissue, such as the brain, is disclosed. The medical probe may include a flexible, elongated body having a proximal end portion and an opposed distal end portion. The elongated body has a length of at least 1 cm and an outer diameter of 80 μm or less. The distal end portion may comprise a beveled tip such that the distal end portion of the medical probe can be steered independently to a target site in the soft tissue.