Catheter Navigation Tool Geometry for Tortuous Vasculature
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current catheters face challenges in navigating the tortuous nature of patient vasculature, impacting their navigability and performance, particularly when traversing anatomical structures like the ophthalmic ledge, which can lead to inefficiencies in accessing and treating targeted sites, and thus require improved methods for enhancing navigability and resultantly enhanced performance for various types of catheters.
Innovation Solution
A navigation tool with a proximal portion, an enlarged portion, and a distal portion, featuring varying outer diameters and a lumen, designed to enhance navigability by obfuscating the catheter's opening and allowing the distal portion to traverse clots, with features like polymer layers, Nitinol mesh, and a hub for controlling relative positions, to aid in navigating through vasculature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the catheter uses a conventional uniform diameter structure, then the device complexity is low, but the navigability through tortuous vasculature is poor
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple segments with different diameters: a proximal portion, an enlarged portion, and a distal portion. Each segment serves a specific function - the proximal portion for insertion, the enlarged portion for navigating tortuous vasculature by reducing the ledge effect, and the distal portion for reaching the target site. This segmentation allows the catheter to navigate complex vasculature while maintaining manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the catheter have different local properties - the enlarged portion has a larger diameter to reduce the ledge effect during navigation, while the distal portion maintains a smaller diameter for precise targeting. The material properties and geometric characteristics are optimized locally for their specific functions, improving overall navigability without requiring complete structural redesign.
2Productivity
If the catheter tip is made sharp for effective clot traversal, then the productivity is improved, but the harmful factors (trauma to vasculature) increase
Solution Approach 1:
The distal portion of the catheter is designed with a curved or rounded tip rather than a sharp point. This curvature allows the catheter to traverse clots and navigate vasculature through gradual engagement rather than abrupt penetration, reducing trauma to the vasculature while maintaining the ability to reach and engage with clots for effective treatment.
Solution Approach 2:
The enlarged portion acts as an intermediary structure between the proximal insertion site and the distal target site. It provides a transition zone that reduces the ledge effect and allows the catheter to navigate tortuous vasculature more easily, thereby reducing the force required at the distal tip and minimizing potential trauma during clot traversal.
3Strength
If the enlarged portion is made rigid to resist deformation, then the strength is improved, but the flexibility needed for navigation is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter employs composite material construction with different portions made from materials having different mechanical properties. The enlarged portion uses a material or structure that provides sufficient rigidity to resist deformation during navigation, while the distal portion uses a more flexible material to accommodate tortuous vasculature. This composite approach allows each segment to have optimized properties for its specific function.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is designed with dynamic flexibility characteristics - the enlarged portion maintains sufficient rigidity to resist deformation under navigation forces, while the distal portion and its relationship to the enlarged portion allow for adaptive flexibility during navigation. The structure can dynamically adjust its deformation characteristics based on the navigation requirements at different positions along the catheter.
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
The navigation tool improves catheter navigability and performance by mitigating the ledge effect, allowing the distal portion to traverse clots effectively, enhancing the catheter's ability to reach targeted treatment sites with reduced deformation and improved control.
Implementation Method 1
the enlarged diameter portion may include a shape set Nitinol mesh that can be configured to expand radially when the shape set Nitinol is shortened
Implementation Method 2
The first layer and the second layer may include a polymer configured to resist deformation of the enlarged portion when at least a portion of the enlarged portion contacts vasculature within the patient
Implementation Method 3
The enlarged portion may include a first layer, a second layer, and a void disposed therebetween. The void between the first layer and the second layer can be configured to allow the enlarged portion to be flexible
Data Source
AI summary
A navigation tool including a proximal portion, an enlarged portion, a distal portion, and a lumen. The proximal portion, enlarged portion, and distal portion can have a first outer diameter, second outer diameter, and third outer diameter, respectively. The first outer diameter can be smaller than the second outer diameter. The third outer diameter can be smaller than the first outer diameter. The lumen, passing through the proximal portion, enlarged portion, and distal portion, can have an inner diameter smaller than the third outer diameter. The enlarged portion can be configured to not anchor the navigation tool to vasculature within a patient. The distal portion can be configured to navigate the vasculature within the patient aided at least in part by the enlarged portion. At least a portion of the enlarged portion and distal portion can be disposed within vasculature of the patient.