Articulating Catheter RF Leaflet Removal for Minimally Invasive Valve Repair
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical technologies face challenges in efficiently removing clips, cysts, and other structures from cardiac valve leaflets without requiring open-heart surgery, and there is a need for minimally invasive methods to modify or remove luminal valve leaflets.
Innovation Solution
The development of catheter-based systems and methods that utilize grasping, cutting, and snare mechanisms to remove or modify cardiac valve leaflets, including the use of electrified tissue cutting techniques and robotic manipulators for precise tissue manipulation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional open-heart surgery is used to remove clips and cysts from valve leaflets, then complete removal can be achieved, but patient trauma and recovery time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical open-heart surgery with electrosurgical RF energy delivery through a catheter. The RF generator delivers radiofrequency energy through the catheter tip to cut and remove clips, cysts, and other structures from valve leaflets, eliminating the need for open chest surgery while achieving complete removal
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter acts as an intermediary device that delivers RF energy from the external RF generator to the target tissue inside the heart. This intermediary allows precise energy delivery through the skin and into the cardiac chamber, enabling removal of structures from valve leaflets without open surgery
2Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive catheter-based methods are used to remove valve structures, then patient trauma is reduced, but procedural complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is designed with multi-functionality to address various valve pathologies. It can remove clips, cysts, thrombi, and perform leaflet repairs or replacements, making a single device capable of multiple procedures that would traditionally require different surgical approaches
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces complex mechanical surgical instruments with a simplified RF energy delivery catheter. Instead of requiring multiple mechanical cutting tools and surgical instruments, a single catheter delivers electromagnetic energy to achieve cutting, removal, and tissue modification functions
3Ease of operation
If RF energy is delivered through the catheter to cut tissue, then minimally invasive removal is achieved, but energy delivery precision must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms through imaging guidance (fluoroscopy, echocardiography, or other imaging modalities) to monitor the catheter position and RF energy delivery in real-time. This allows the operator to adjust the catheter position and energy parameters to maintain precise energy delivery to the target tissue while avoiding surrounding structures
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
Enables minimally invasive procedures to remove or reshape cardiac valve leaflets, allowing for replacement valves or other therapeutic interventions without open-heart surgery, while providing precise control and efficiency in tissue cutting.
Implementation Method 1
A leaflet removal system can include a catheter that is deliverable to a target location in a heart of a patient. The catheter can include a tip region that is coupled to an RF generator capable of delivering RF energy through the catheter to a tissue structure at the target location
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosure provides various embodiments of catheters having articulable ends that can be used for various procedures. Embodiments of methods are also provided that can be performed with catheters in accordance with the present disclosure