Catheter Shaver Tip with Canted Teeth for Bone Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current catheter steering systems, such as those used by Myelotec, Inc., are limited to steering in one plane at a time, which restricts navigation and image orientation when trying to access locations outside the possible steering planes, and require image tilt when rotating the housing, and they lack the ability to cut bone without cutting the patient.
Innovation Solution
A three-wire steering system is introduced, where a center steering wire allows movement in an orthogonal plane, and a flexible shaft with a cutting mechanism, including canted teeth, enables back-and-forth motion for bone shaving without causing image tilt, using a motor-driven flexible shaft and a shaver tip with canted teeth for cutting in the backward motion and sliding over the bone in the forward motion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a two-wire steering system is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the steering capability is limited to one plane at a time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from a two-wire system that steers in one plane to a three-wire system that enables steering in multiple planes by adding a center wire that operates orthogonally to the existing left and right steering wires, effectively adding a dimensional degree of freedom to the steering capability
2Adaptability or versatility
If the housing is rotated to access locations outside possible steering planes, then the navigation capability is improved, but image tilt occurs
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of rotating the housing to change viewing orientation, the invention uses the third steering wire to deflect the distal end in an orthogonal plane, allowing the optical fiber to maintain its original orientation relative to the housing while the tip reaches new spatial locations without tilting the image
3Adaptability or versatility
If a cutting mechanism is added to the catheter, then the bone shaving capability is enabled, but the risk of cutting the patient increases
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting mechanism is designed with canted teeth that are active only in one direction of motion (backward motion cuts bone, forward motion slides over bone), creating asymmetric local functionality that enables controlled bone shaving while minimizing the risk of uncontrolled cutting or injury to surrounding tissues
4Adaptability or versatility
If a flexible shaft with cutting mechanism is used, then the bone shaving capability is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible shaft serves multiple functions: it transmits rotational motion from the motor, acts as a drive mechanism for the cutting teeth, and provides the mechanical structure for bone engagement, combining several functions into a single component to reduce overall system complexity
Data Source
AI summary
A medical catheter extrusion forms a sheath around a wire. The extrusion is coupled to a steering and motivating handle. The handle is part of a housing that houses a motivation component fixed to the housing, a crankshaft, or similar eccentric component, couples to the motivation component, which is coupled to a proximal end of the wire. At the wire's distal end, a cutting tip with canted teeth couples to the wire. The cutting tip is capable of cutting bone when moving axially toward the catheter extrusion but glides across the bone without cutting it when moving axially away from the catheter extrusion. The motivation component can be a motor or buttons or a trigger, that couple to the wire and converts manual movement into reciprocating motion of the flexible shaft. The shaft's reciprocating motion moves the flexible and steerable shaft back and forth to move the cutting tip.