Multi-Lumen Catheter Ramp for Precise Minimally Invasive Sampling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for sampling tissue within the body, such as biopsies, often require invasive procedures and struggle with efficiently delivering and manipulating elongated instruments to the target site for accurate sampling.
Innovation Solution
A multi-lumen apparatus comprising a sheath, a cap, and a liner with a distal ramp section having a C-shaped cross-section, allowing for the deployment and control of medical devices like imaging probes and sampling needles through a flexible and curvable design, facilitating minimally invasive tissue sampling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If invasive surgical procedures are used to access target sites for tissue sampling, then accurate sampling can be achieved, but patient trauma and procedural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a nested configuration where an elongated instrument (such as a biopsy needle or imaging probe) is inserted through a sheath, which itself is advanced through a catheter. This multi-layer nested structure allows the sampling instrument to reach target sites deep within the body via minimally invasive pathways, achieving accurate tissue sampling without requiring open surgical incisions that would cause patient trauma.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces intermediary structures (sheath and catheter) that serve as mediators between the external access point and the internal target site. These intermediaries provide a protected pathway through which the sampling instrument can be advanced, allowing precise delivery of the sampling probe to the target location while minimizing direct tissue damage and enabling minimally invasive procedures.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If elongated instruments are advanced to target sites, then minimally invasive sampling is enabled, but instrument delivery and manipulation become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the sampling system into distinct functional segments: an outer catheter for positioning, an intermediate sheath for instrument guidance, and an inner elongated sampling instrument. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently, with the sheath specifically designed to facilitate easy manipulation and positioning of the sampling instrument at the target site, thereby improving ease of operation while maintaining minimally invasive access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates dynamic elements that allow the sampling instrument to be manipulated and repositioned within the sheath during the procedure. The sheath can be advanced, retracted, and rotated relative to the catheter, and the sampling instrument can be independently maneuvered within the sheath lumen. This dynamic capability enables the operator to easily adjust the instrument's position and orientation at the target site, overcoming the difficulties of instrument delivery and manipulation.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid structure is used for instrument delivery, then structural stability is maintained, but flexibility to navigate body passages is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making different portions of the sampling system have different mechanical properties. The catheter and sheath are designed with flexible materials that can navigate body passages, while the sampling instrument itself maintains rigidity in its distal portion for stable tissue interaction. The sheath specifically incorporates flexible yet guidance-capable structures that allow it to bend and conform to anatomical curves while still providing a stable pathway for the sampling instrument, thus resolving the contradiction between structural stability and flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
Various disclosed embodiments include illustrative apparatuses and systems for performing multi-lumen catheter functions and methods for making the apparatuses. An illustrative apparatus includes a multi-lumen sheath, a cap having a proximal end attachable to a distal end of the multi-lumen sheath, and a liner. The cap includes a ramp section having a ramp and an exit port and an imaging section disposed distally from the ramp section. The ramp allows travel of a medical device from within the liner to the exit port. The distal ramp section extends distally from the flexible proximal section and is received by the ramp of the ramp section. The distal ramp section has a curved portion. The cap includes a socket for receiving a tab of the distal ramp section. The curved portion includes bending relief features.