Deployment Catheter Markers for Precise Stent Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical procedures for deploying drainage stents face challenges such as incorrect positioning due to reliance on ultrasonic viewing, difficulty in visualizing colored markers through viscous fluids, and improper deployment, leading to complications and additional procedures.
Innovation Solution
A catheter system with a primary colored marker and secondary markers, including light sensors or echogenic materials, allows for precise visualization using endoscopic and ultrasound modes, ensuring accurate deployment of medical devices by confirming the catheter's position within the body.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If ultrasonic viewing mode is used to guide catheter deployment, then real-time imaging capability is provided, but visualization accuracy deteriorates due to difficulty in determining precise catheter position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent embeds multiple types of markers within the catheter structure - a colored marker visible in endoscopic mode and radiopaque markers visible in ultrasonic mode. These nested markers allow the same catheter to provide position information through different visualization modes, resolving the contradiction between real-time imaging and positioning accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a colored marker on the catheter that is visible under endoscopic visualization. This colored marker provides clear visual cues for catheter position and retraction status, complementing the radiopaque markers and improving overall measurement precision during deployment.
2Illumination intensity
If endoscopic viewing mode is used to visualize colored marker, then direct visualization of catheter is enabled, but visualization is blocked by viscous, cloudy or opaque fluids
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates both colored markers (visible in endoscopic mode) and radiopaque markers (visible in ultrasonic mode) within the same catheter. When fluids block endoscopic visualization, the radiopaque markers remain visible through ultrasonic imaging, ensuring continuous position information regardless of fluid conditions.
3Device complexity
If single marker system is used on catheter, then device complexity is reduced, but deployment accuracy deteriorates due to insufficient position indication
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the marker system into distinct segments - a colored marker for endoscopic visualization and radiopaque markers for ultrasonic visualization. Each marker type serves a specific function and is visible under specific conditions, providing comprehensive position information without creating a monolithic complex system.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is designed with multi-functional markers that can be visualized through different imaging modes. The same catheter structure incorporates markers that work with both endoscopic and ultrasonic systems, allowing a single device to provide accurate positioning across multiple visualization scenarios.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances the accuracy of medical device deployment by providing clear visual cues through multiple markers, reducing procedural errors and simplifying stent placement, thereby minimizing patient risk and procedural time.
Implementation Method 1
The at least one secondary marker may include an echogenic material
Implementation Method 2
The at least one secondary marker may include a light sensor
Data Source
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AI summary
A system, comprising an outer catheter, the outer catheter including a proximal end, a distal end; and a lumen extending therebetween; a first marker and a second marker; an inner catheter slidably disposed within the lumen of the outer catheter; and a stent disposed over the inner catheter, the stent being configured to transition from a first configuration to a second configuration when not disposed within the lumen of the outer catheter, the stent comprising a proximal retention member when in the second configuration; wherein the outer catheter is proximally retractable together with the inner catheter and the stent with respect to a reference position within a body lumen; wherein the first marker is positioned with respect to the outer catheter, inner catheter, or both, and with respect to the stent, such that confirmation within the body lumen of the first marker proximal to the reference position denotes that the entire proximal retention member is deployable proximally relative to the reference position.