Catheter Bag-Shaped Body Dynamic Diameter Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing catheters face challenges in preventing damage to body cavity walls and improving passability during delivery of medical implements like balloons or stents, as they often get caught due to increased diameter tips, leading to poor navigation within body cavities.
Innovation Solution
A catheter design featuring a bag-shaped body with a smaller outer diameter than the outer tube, which can be pressurized to increase its inner diameter, allowing for a larger minimum inner diameter when pressurized, and featuring bulging portions that can be inflated to enhance navigation and prevent catching on cavity walls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If the tip portion of the catheter is pressed against the wall of the body cavity to increase contact area, then the pressure per unit area is reduced and damage to the body cavity wall is prevented, but the passability of the catheter deteriorates because the diameter-increased tip portion easily gets caught on the wall
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter employs a distal end portion that can dynamically change its outer diameter between a first diameter (when pressed against the wall) and a second diameter (when not pressed). This dynamic diameter change allows the catheter to adapt its profile based on operational needs, preventing damage when contact is required while maintaining passability when navigation is needed
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter utilizes material properties that allow the outer diameter of the distal end portion to change in response to applied pressure. When pressure is applied, the material deforms to increase contact area and distribute force, reducing pressure per unit area and preventing tissue damage while maintaining the ability to navigate through body cavities
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the outer diameter of the catheter tip is increased to prevent damage to the body cavity wall, then the contact area is increased and pressure per unit area is reduced, but the catheter cannot pass through narrow passages and body cavities
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter's distal end portion is designed with dynamic dimensional characteristics, allowing it to transition between a smaller outer diameter for navigation through narrow passages and a larger effective contact diameter when pressed against tissue. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction between maintaining small size for passability and increasing size for damage prevention
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter material and structure are designed to change the outer diameter parameter of the distal end portion in response to mechanical stress. When the catheter is inserted and the distal end is pressed against the body cavity wall, the material deforms to increase the effective contact diameter, distributing the applied force over a larger area to prevent tissue damage while maintaining the ability to pass through narrow passages
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 catheter effectively prevents damage to body cavity walls and improves passability by maintaining a smaller profile during delivery and expanding to facilitate the passage of medical implements, reducing the risk of getting caught and enhancing the delivery process.
Implementation Method 1
a flow path configured to allow a fluid to be injected therethrough to the bag-shaped body... a minimum inner diameter of the bag-shaped body in a pressurized state where the bag-shaped body is pressurized by injecting a fluid into the flow path is larger than a minimum inner diameter of the bag-shaped body in a non-pressurized state
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter includes: an outer tube; a bag-shaped body provided to a distal portion of the outer tube, the bag-shaped body having an annular shape and having a portion that has a smaller outer diameter than the outer tube; and a flow path configured to allow a fluid to be injected therethrough to the bag-shaped body, wherein the bag-shaped body is configured so that a minimum inner diameter of the bag-shaped body in a pressurized state where the bag-shaped body is pressurized by injecting a fluid into the flow path is larger than a minimum inner diameter of the bag-shaped body in a non-pressurized state where the bag-shaped body is not pressurized by injecting a fluid into the flow path.