Catheter End Effector Nonplanar Substrate Stiffness Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing cardiac mapping catheters face challenges in achieving high mapping resolution, ensuring adequate electrode contact with nonplanar tissue surfaces, and maintaining atraumatic advancement through the vasculature due to the need for stiff internal structural members.
Innovation Solution
The development of a nonplanar end effector for a mapping catheter, featuring a sloped substrate with electrodes on both sides, which modulates stiffness along its length and torsional stiffness, allowing for better conformity to irregular tissue surfaces and easier advancement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If stiff internal structural members are used to maintain predetermined configuration, then structural stability is improved, but ease of manipulation and electrode contact with tissue deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector is divided into multiple segments or sections with varying stiffness characteristics. The substrate includes a proximal portion with higher stiffness for structural support and a distal portion with lower stiffness for flexibility and tissue contact. This segmentation allows the catheter to maintain overall structural integrity while enabling the distal electrodes to conform to irregular tissue surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the end effector are assigned different mechanical properties. The proximal portion maintains higher stiffness to preserve the predetermined configuration during advancement, while the distal portion featuring the electrodes has reduced stiffness to allow manipulation and conformability to tissue surfaces. This local differentiation resolves the contradiction between overall structural stability and local ease of operation.
2Stability of the object's composition
If stiff internal structural members are used to maintain predetermined configuration, then structural stability is improved, but electrode contact with nonplanar tissue surfaces deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector structure is segmented into a stiffer proximal support portion and a more flexible distal electrode portion. This allows the distal electrodes to independently conform to nonplanar tissue surfaces while the proximal portion maintains the overall catheter configuration and structural stability during navigation through the vasculature.
Solution Approach 2:
The substrate is designed with spatially varying mechanical properties, where the distal portion containing the electrodes has reduced stiffness compared to the proximal portion. This local quality variation enables precise electrode-tissue contact on irregular surfaces while maintaining overall structural stability, directly addressing the contradiction between structural integrity and contact precision.
3Ease of operation
If the catheter is made collapsible for atraumatic advancement, then ease of delivery is improved, but structural stability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The end effector employs dynamic mechanical properties that allow it to transition between different stiffness states. During advancement through the vasculature, the collapsible design enables easy delivery by reducing resistance to compression. Once deployed, the structure maintains sufficient stability to preserve the predetermined configuration and ensure proper electrode positioning. This dynamic adaptability resolves the contradiction between ease of delivery and structural stability.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the catheter have different collapse characteristics and stiffness properties. The distal portion with electrodes is designed to be more collapsible for atraumatic advancement, while the proximal portion maintains higher structural stability. This local differentiation allows the catheter to be easily delivered through the vasculature while maintaining the necessary structural integrity for accurate positioning and configuration maintenance.
Data Source
AI summary
An end effector for a catheter. The end effector can include a substrate extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal portion of the end effector to a distal portion of the end effector. The substrate can include a longitudinal plane, the longitudinal axis running through the longitudinal plane, a first face disposed on a first side of the substrate and oblique to the longitudinal plane; a second face, opposite the first face, disposed on a second side of the substrate; a first group of electrodes disposed on the first face; and a second group of electrodes disposed on the second face.