Catheter Sensor Channel Segmentation for Bladder Wall Oxygen Monitoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing Foley catheters with integrated oxygen sensors face challenges in accurately placing the sensor tip against the bladder wall, particularly with inflexible sensor types, due to incompatible designs that cause discomfort and blockage issues.
Innovation Solution
The catheter design features an elongate sensor channel with an enclosed lumen portion and an open furrow portion, allowing the sensor to exit in a straight line, minimizing bends and enabling the use of inflexible sensors like fibre-optic sensors with metal cages, while maintaining the catheter tip enclosed to reduce discomfort and prevent blockage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the sensor channel includes a bend to allow the sensor to extend beyond the catheter tip at an angle, then the sensor placement in the epithelial wall is facilitated, but the sensor path becomes complex causing discomfort and blockage issues
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor channel is segmented into two distinct portions: an enclosed lumen portion for sensor guidance and an open furrow portion for sensor exit. This segmentation allows the sensor to travel through a protected enclosed path and then exit in a straight line, eliminating the need for bends at the catheter tip while still enabling proper sensor placement against the bladder wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a three-dimensional bent path to a two-dimensional planar path by creating a furrow that allows the sensor to exit parallel to the catheter axis. This dimensional change simplifies the sensor trajectory, reducing complexity and eliminating harmful bends while maintaining placement effectiveness.
2Ease of operation
If the catheter tip is opened to allow sensor extension, then sensor placement is enabled, but the opening may be blocked by the bladder wall causing measurement issues
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor is extracted from the enclosed lumen into the open furrow portion, allowing it to exit the catheter in a straight line parallel to the catheter axis. This extraction eliminates the need for the catheter tip opening to be large or angled, reducing the risk of blockage while still enabling the sensor to reach the bladder wall for accurate measurements.
3Strength
If inflexible sensors like fibre-optic sensors with metal cages are used, then sensor durability is improved, but the sensor cannot navigate bends in the catheter channel
Solution Approach 1:
The sensor channel is divided into an enclosed lumen portion for guiding flexible sensor types and an open furrow portion for accommodating inflexible sensors. This segmentation allows inflexible sensors with metal cages to be guided through the enclosed lumen and then exit in a straight line through the furrow, eliminating the need for them to navigate bends and thus preserving their durability while enabling their use with the catheter system.
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
This design facilitates smooth and accurate placement of the sensor, reducing patient discomfort and preventing blockages, allowing for effective monitoring of bladder-wall oxygen levels or other properties, such as haemodynamic status, with improved sensor compatibility and ease of use.
Implementation Method 1
an elongate oxygen sensor, having an oxygen-sensing element enveloped within an oxygen-permeable membrane
Data Source
Figure 1~2
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AI summary
An apparatus for sensing a property of a bladder wall, such as bladder-wall oxygen, comprises an elongate catheter (1) and an elongate sensor (2). The catheter (1) defines a path from a proximal end of the catheter to a distal end of the catheter. The catheter comprises a sensor channel for guiding the elongate sensor along at least a part of the path, the sensor channel opening at a sensor port (3) towards the proximal end of the catheter. The sensor channel comprises (i) an enclosed lumen portion (10), arranged to surround the sensor, and (ii) an open furrow portion (16). The furrow is located nearer to the distal end of the catheter than is the enclosed lumen. The furrow is arranged to allow the sensor (2) to exit the enclosed lumen (10) in a direction substantially parallel to, or tangential to, the path of the catheter (1) at a proximal end of the furrow.