Catheter Flow Guide for Stable Sensor Contact
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing catheters face challenges in ensuring constant contact between biological fluids and sensors without stagnation due to small diameters and vertical fluid flow paths, leading to inaccurate measurements.
Innovation Solution
Incorporation of a guide portion that protrudes radially from the catheter's central axis to direct fluid flow towards the sensor, ensuring constant contact and preventing stagnation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the catheter main body has a small outer diameter to pass through the urethra, then the catheter can be inserted easily, but the lumen flow path width becomes insufficient causing urine stagnation
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portion protrudes in the radial direction (second dimension) to redirect urine flow from the longitudinal hole toward the sensor unit, creating a three-dimensional flow path that prevents stagnation without increasing the axial diameter of the catheter main body
2Device complexity
If urine flows linearly in a vertical direction through the longitudinal hole, then the flow path is simple, but constant contact with the probe surface cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The guide portion acts as an intermediary element that redirects the linear vertical flow of urine toward the sensor unit, ensuring constant contact between the urine and probe surface without complicating the overall flow path structure
Data Source
AI summary
To stably measure a component in a biological fluid, an elongated catheter device is configured to bring the biological fluid flowing into a catheter into constant contact with a sensor surface. The elongated catheter device includes a lead-out lumen through which a biological fluid can flow; a lead-out port that allows an inside and an outside of the lead-out lumen to communicate; one or more sensor units capable of measuring a component contained in the biological fluid in the lead-out lumen; and a guide portion 40 that guides the biological fluid flowing into the lead-out lumen from the lead-out port toward the sensor unit, in which the guide portion protrudes in a radial direction orthogonal to a central axis of the catheter device in a longitudinal direction, and is disposed on a distal end side relative to the sensor unit.