Catheter Radiopaque Marker Gap Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional catheters experience excessive stress concentration and rigidity at the border area between radiopaque marker regions and non-marker regions, leading to potential breakage during insertion and curvature within blood vessels.
Innovation Solution
A catheter design featuring a tubular body with a coil or braid structure and a radiopaque marker fixed at the distal end, where a gap is provided between the marker and the tubular body in the radial direction to absorb deformation and prevent stress concentration, along with a reinforcing member to secure the marker and maintain flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a radiopaque marker is provided at the distal end portion of the catheter, then the distal end position can be recognized visually during procedures, but the rigidity of the marker region becomes extremely higher than other regions, causing stress concentration at the border area and making the catheter prone to breakage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a multi-layer structure where only specific layers (inner layer and outer layer) are made radiopaque, while the intermediate layer remains non-radiopaque. This allows the distal end position to be visually recognized through multiple radiopaque markers, while the intermediate non-radiopaque layer maintains flexibility and prevents stress concentration, thus resolving the contradiction between visual recognition and breakage resistance
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining radiopaque and non-radiopaque layers in a specific configuration. The inner and outer layers use radiopaque materials for visibility, while the intermediate layer uses non-radiopaque flexible material to absorb stress. This composite structure enables both visual recognition of the distal end and prevention of catheter breakage at border areas
2Ease of operation
If the distal end portion is formed of resin with high flexibility to facilitate insertion, then insertion into blood vessels is easier, but adding a metal radiopaque marker increases rigidity, creating a gap in rigidity at the border area
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by differentiating the radiopacity properties of different layers: the inner and outer layers are radiopaque for visibility, while the intermediate layer is non-radiopaque and highly flexible. This localized differentiation allows the distal end to maintain high flexibility for easy insertion while providing radiopaque markers for visual recognition, eliminating the rigidity gap at border areas
Data Source
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AI summary
To provide a catheter with a radiopaque marker, capable of preventing a break of the catheter by preventing excessive concentration of stress and securing the flexibility of a distal end portion of the catheter even when the catheter is inserted and curved in a blood vessel. In a catheter 1 including a catheter tube 20 and a radiopaque marker 30 arranged in the catheter tube 20, the radiopaque marker 30 is fixed so that a gap 35 is provided between the radiopaque marker 30 and the catheter tube 20 in a radial direction of the catheter tube 20.