Catheter Interconnecting Struts for Stiffness and Coating Integrity
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Solution Overview
Problem
Medical catheters face challenges in navigating tortuous vasculature due to inadequate tensile stiffness and bending stiffness, leading to poor control and potential separation of the outer coating from the elongated body during navigation.
Innovation Solution
The medical catheter features an elongated body with a plurality of interconnecting struts and openings, including helical struts, first cross struts, and second cross struts, which increase the fixation surface area of the outer coating and enhance mechanical properties such as tensile stiffness, bending stiffness, and torque responsiveness, thereby improving navigability and reducing the likelihood of coating separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If the elongated body is made more rigid to improve tensile stiffness, then navigation control is improved, but the outer coating may separate from the elongated body during navigation
Solution Approach 1:
The elongated body is segmented into multiple struts (helical struts, first cross struts, second cross struts) arranged in a lattice structure. This segmentation creates multiple attachment points for the outer coating, distributing the mechanical stress and preventing coating separation while maintaining tensile stiffness through the interconnected strut architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongated body incorporates a porous lattice structure with openings defined by the struts. This porous architecture increases the surface area for coating attachment and provides mechanical interlocking between the outer coating and elongated body, preventing coating delamination while maintaining structural integrity and tensile stiffness.
2Ease of operation
If the elongated body is made more flexible to improve navigability through tortuous vasculature, then bending is facilitated, but tensile stiffness becomes inadequate for safe retraction
Solution Approach 1:
The lattice structure with helical struts provides dynamic mechanical properties that allow the elongated body to adapt to tortuous vasculature during navigation while maintaining sufficient tensile stiffness for retraction. The helical configuration enables controlled deformation and energy absorption during bending while preserving overall structural strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The elongated body combines multiple strut types (helical, first cross, second cross) forming a composite lattice structure. This composite architecture provides both flexibility for navigation through tortuous anatomy and adequate tensile stiffness for safe retraction, achieving a balance between navigability and structural strength.
3Reliability
If the outer coating is attached more securely to prevent separation, then coating integrity is improved, but the elongated body requires more complex structural features
Solution Approach 1:
The segmentation into multiple struts creating a lattice structure with numerous openings provides multiple attachment points for the outer coating. This distributed attachment architecture enhances coating reliability without requiring complex attachment mechanisms, as the coating naturally bonds to the extensive strut surface area and opening edges.
Solution Approach 2:
The porous lattice structure with openings provides inherent mechanical interlocking for the outer coating. The coating flows into and bonds with the strut surfaces and opening edges, creating secure attachment through the porous architecture itself rather than requiring additional complex fastening features.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical device comprising: an elongated body extending along a longitudinal axis from a proximal end to a distal end, wherein the elongated body comprises a plurality of interconnecting struts extending around an outer perimeter of the elongated body and defining a plurality of openings, wherein the plurality of interconnecting struts comprises: a plurality of helical struts extending along the elongated body and defining one or more coils extending around the outer perimeter of the elongated body, a plurality of first cross struts extending between longitudinally adjacent coils of the one or more coils, and a plurality of second cross struts extending between first cross struts and coils of the plurality of helical struts, wherein each opening is defined by two or more struts, and an outer coating disposed on the outer surface of the elongated body.