Catheter Vane Assemblies for Guidewire Separation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Catheter systems employing multiple guidewires face challenges in maintaining guidewire separation and preventing twisting during complex procedures like stent graft deployment in vessel bifurcations, which complicates precise device alignment and placement.
Innovation Solution
A catheter system with a delivery sheath and a wire management device featuring collapsible and self-expanding vane assemblies that create compartments to keep guidewires separate, minimizing twisting and allowing precise alignment and deployment within bodily vessels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If multiple guidewires are delivered through a single catheter to achieve precise alignment in vessel bifurcations, then device placement precision is improved, but guidewires wrap or twist about one another making device advancement difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter lumen is segmented into multiple compartments by deployable partitions, with each compartment dedicated to carrying a specific guidewire. This segmentation prevents guidewires from contacting and wrapping around each other, allowing independent manipulation of each guidewire while maintaining precise device placement capability
Solution Approach 2:
The partitions are designed to be dynamically deployable - collapsed during catheter insertion to minimize profile, and then deployed within the vessel to create separate guidewire compartments. This dynamic transformation allows the system to adapt between two operational states: low-profile delivery and functional guidewire separation
2Adaptability or versatility
If guidewires are allowed to move freely to achieve vessel alignment, then alignment flexibility is improved, but guidewires twist and wrap making the procedure complicated
Solution Approach 1:
By dividing the catheter interior into separate compartments for each guidewire, the system maintains alignment flexibility within each compartment while preventing inter-g guidewire twisting. Each guidewire can move independently to achieve proper vessel alignment without complicating the overall procedure
Solution Approach 2:
The deployable partitions act as intermediaries between multiple guidewires, allowing each guidewire to perform its alignment function independently while preventing harmful interactions. This intermediary structure simplifies the procedure by eliminating guidewire wrapping while preserving alignment capabilities
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 system effectively maintains guidewire separation and facilitates precise alignment and deployment of therapeutic devices, such as stent grafts, by creating compartments that remain open within the vessel to guide wires, preventing twisting and ensuring accurate placement.
Implementation Method 1
the vane assemblies are configured to self-expand (relative to the inner shaft) from the collapsed state toward a normal, expanded state when released from the lumen
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter system including a delivery sheath and a wire management device. The wire management device is slidably disposed within a lumen of the sheath, and includes a shaft and at least two vane assemblies. The vane assemblies each project from an exterior surface of the shaft and are circumferentially spaced from one another. Further, the vane assemblies are collapsible to a collapsed stated when disposed within the lumen, and are configured to self-expand from the collapsed state toward a normal, expanded state when released from the lumen. The catheter assembly generates a plurality of compartments that are separated from one another by the vane assemblies and along which individual guidewires can be tracked. The compartments maintain the guidewires separate from one to prevent possible twisting. An advancing endograft delivery device tracked over the guidewires collapses the vane assemblies, coalescing the compartments into a single compartment during endograft deployment.