Catheter Exchange Using Pre-Marked Wire and Fixed Imaging
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Solution Overview
Problem
Catheter exchange procedures in patients often require radiography, leading to administrative burdens and scheduling challenges due to the need for live imaging, especially when swapping gastro-jejunal feeding tubes, which can be clogged or displaced.
Innovation Solution
A method involving an exchange wire with an indelible indicator and a catheter with a transducer for imaging, allowing for catheter exchange without radiography, using fixed radiography to confirm initial and replacement catheter placement, and utilizing a normally closed retrieval lumen for wire advancement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If live radiography is used to guide catheter exchange, then catheter placement accuracy is improved, but administrative burden and scheduling complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-marking the exchange wire with radiopaque indicators at specific intervals before the procedure. This allows the wire to be advanced to the correct depth based on predetermined markings visible on standard radiographs, eliminating the need for complex live radiography guidance during the actual exchange procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a disposable exchange wire with built-in radiopaque markings that can be seen on standard radiographs. This single-use wire with pre-marked depth indicators replaces the need for expensive and complex live radiography equipment, achieving accurate placement verification through simple, inexpensive radiographic imaging.
2Reliability
If live radiography is used for catheter exchange, then real-time placement verification is improved, but resource availability and accessibility worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical and electronic system of live radiography with a simpler approach using pre-marked wires visible on standard radiographs. The radiopaque markings on the wire provide visual confirmation of depth and placement on routine radiographic images, eliminating dependence on specialized live imaging equipment and making the procedure accessible in any facility with basic radiography capability.
3Measurement precision
If radiography is required for catheter exchange, then placement confirmation accuracy is improved, but procedure time and efficiency worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The exchange wire is pre-marked with radiopaque indicators at specific depth intervals before the procedure begins. During the exchange, the operator can quickly verify placement by checking which markings are visible on a standard radiograph, eliminating the need for time-consuming live imaging adjustments and multiple verification steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Exchanging a catheter includes producing a first image on an electronic display establishing positioning of a first catheter at a treatment location within a patient where a distal tip of the first catheter remains below the pylorus in a patient's gastro-intestinal (GI) tract. An exchange wire is advanced through the first catheter to a predefined target insertion depth, and the first catheter is removed from the patient over the exchange wire. A replacement catheter is then advanced over the common exchange wire, and a second image produced on an electronic display confirming placement of the second catheter at the treatment location. Aspects of the methodology can be performed without assistance of radiography and in a traditional emergency room setting.