Catheter With Non-Smooth Inner Surface For Urine Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional urinary catheters with eyelets cause trauma to the urethra during insertion, lead to infections, and suffer from slow drainage due to turbulent fluid forces and friction, as well as clogging issues with mucus or lubricant.
Innovation Solution
A catheter design featuring a tubular member with a single rounded entrance opening at the first end and a truncated teardrop-shaped head, eliminating eyelets and incorporating non-circular inner surfaces with channels or dimples to enhance fluid flow and reduce friction, allowing for faster urine drainage without the need for a separate tip.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If eyelets are formed in the catheter body sidewall to facilitate insertion, then insertion is easier, but trauma to the urethra and infection risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the eyelets from the catheter body sidewall entirely. Instead of having multiple small openings (eyelets) that cause trauma, the design uses a single continuous opening that eliminates the cutting edges responsible for urethral injury while maintaining insertion capability.
Solution Approach 2:
Rather than having openings (eyelets) in the sidewall for drainage, the invention inverts the approach by creating a single opening at the end of the catheter body. This reversal of the opening location eliminates the trauma-causing edges while preserving drainage function.
2Productivity
If eyelets are used in the catheter body sidewall, then urine drainage is enabled, but drainage speed decreases due to turbulent fluid forces and friction
Solution Approach 1:
The single opening at the catheter end is segmented into multiple channels within the catheter body. This segmentation allows urine to flow through multiple parallel pathways, reducing turbulence and friction while maintaining high drainage speed, unlike the traditional eyelet design which creates turbulent flow.
3Ease of operation
If eyelets are formed in the catheter body sidewall, then urine intake is facilitated, but clogging with mucus or debris occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the multiple small eyelet openings from the sidewall and replaces them with a single larger opening at the catheter end. This extraction of the problematic eyelet structure eliminates the narrow passages that are prone to clogging with mucus and debris, while maintaining effective urine intake through the larger single opening.
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 design reduces trauma and infection risk, enhances drainage speed by minimizing friction, and prevents clogging, ensuring complete bladder drainage and improved flow rates compared to conventional catheters.
Implementation Method 1
friction forces created by the urine flow contacting the inner surface of the catheter decreases the fluid flow or drainage rate
Implementation Method 2
the eyelet formed in the catheter body sidewall causes turbulent fluid forces within the catheter
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
Figure 4A~4B
AI summary
A catheter 30A has an entrance opening defined by the first end 32 of a catheter body and non-smooth inner surface. The entrance opening 38 intersects a longitudinal axis extending longitudinally through the center of a lumen adapted to drain urine from a bladder. The non-smooth inner surface can have dimples 62, channels 50, or grooves, all of which decrease frictional fluid forces against the inner surface as the urine drains. The catheter is free of any eyelets formed in the side wall of the catheter body. The catheter is further free from any hemispheric tip located at one end.