Rotary Catheter Drive Seal-Set Eccentricity Compensation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing catheter devices are limited in treating varying vessel diameters and obstruction types, often requiring multiple devices, are slow, traumatic, and expensive, and struggle with aspiration and cooling in narrow vessels due to abrasive tip design and high-speed rotation.
Innovation Solution
A motor-driven rotary catheter with an asymmetric narrow tip that bluntly impacts obstructions, delivering cooling/lubricating fluid and drugs, and aspirating particles, allowing dual mechanical and pharmaceutical action to break down obstructions efficiently, while preventing clogging and thermal injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If an abrasive tip is rotated at high speeds to grind obstruction material, then the obstruction breakdown speed is improved, but thermal injury and vessel perforation risk increase due to inability to deliver cooling fluid
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces cooling fluid as an intermediary substance that mediates between the abrasive tip and the vessel wall. The fluid channel delivers cooling fluid to the tip, which then cools the obstruction material and prevents thermal injury during high-speed grinding operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs hydraulic principles by using fluid pressure to deliver cooling fluid through the hollow abrasive tip via a fluid channel. This allows cooling fluid to reach the tip interior and exterior surfaces, enabling thermal management during high-speed rotation without compromising productivity.
2Productivity
If a spherical abrasive tip is used to grind obstructions, then the obstruction breakdown effectiveness is improved, but aspiration capability deteriorates due to blockage of the fluid channel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the spherical tip into a hollow structure with internal fluid channels. This segmentation allows the tip to perform both grinding and aspiration functions simultaneously, as the hollow interior provides a passage for fluid and particle flow while the external abrasive surface performs obstruction breakdown.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a nested structure where the hollow abrasive tip is positioned within the catheter body, with the fluid channel nested inside the tip hollow space. This nesting allows the aspiration channel to remain open and functional while the abrasive tip performs its grinding function, resolving the conflict between effectiveness and aspiration capability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple prior art devices are used to treat varying vessel diameters and obstruction types, then the adaptability to different conditions is improved, but device complexity and procedural cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal catheter device that combines multiple functions: abrasive grinding, cooling fluid delivery, and aspiration capability. This multi-functional design allows a single device to treat various obstruction types and vessel diameters, eliminating the need for multiple specialized devices and reducing procedural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a flexible catheter body with a hollow, rotatable abrasive tip that can be dynamically adjusted during the procedure. The flexible construction allows the device to adapt to different vessel diameters and anatomical configurations, while the rotatable tip enables adjustment of the abrasive surface orientation to match different obstruction types.
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 quick and effective breakdown of obstructions in varying vessel diameters, preventing thermal injury and vessel perforation, and allows for aspiration of particles and fluid, reducing the need for multiple devices and minimizing procedural complexity and cost.
Implementation Method 1
a seal-set comprising a bearing and an adjacent seal defining a first and a second concentric bores, respectively, the first bore being slightly larger than the diameter of the shaft so that it rotatably and accurately supports the shaft, the second bore being slightly smaller than the diameter so that it seals around the shaft
Data Source
AI summary
A method of making a seal-set for a rotary catheter drive unit containing a motor and a seal-set, an output shaft of the motor being power transmittingly connected to a flexible shaft that is rotatably disposed through the seal-set, the seal-set comprising a bearing and an adjacent seal defining a first and a second concentric bores, respectively, the first bore being slightly larger than a diameter of the shaft so that it rotatably and accurately supports the shaft, the second bore being slightly smaller than the diameter so that it seals around the shaft, the bearing aligning the shaft, so that it is concentric with the second bore, by deflecting the shaft to compensate for eccentricity and misalignment of the second bore relative to the output shaft of the motor.