Coaxial Guide Catheter Resists Dislodging Forces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide catheters face challenges in providing adequate backup support during interventional cardiology procedures, as they often risk dislodging from the coronary ostium due to their stiffness, which can cause damage to the aortic or coronary artery walls, and complex mechanical designs can interfere with blood flow or occlude the artery.
Innovation Solution
A coaxial guide catheter system that includes a tapered inner catheter allowing atraumatic placement over a standard 0.014 inch guidewire, providing a gradual transition and removable support within the coronary artery, while maintaining compatibility with standard guide catheters and hemostatic valves, and featuring a radiopaque marker for positioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a guide catheter is made stiff enough to provide adequate backup support, then it can resist dislodging forces during intervention, but it may damage the aortic or coronary artery walls during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple sections with different stiffness characteristics: a stiff proximal section for backup support, a compliant middle section for safe navigation, and a soft distal tip for atraumatic insertion. This segmentation allows each section to perform its specific function without compromising the others.
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the catheter are assigned different mechanical properties tailored to their specific functions. The proximal portion has high stiffness for resistance to dislodging forces, while the distal tip has low stiffness for safe artery engagement, creating local quality variations that resolve the contradiction.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a guide catheter is made compliant for safe insertion, then it reduces risk of artery wall damage, but it cannot provide adequate backup support against dislodging forces
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter structure is segmented into zones of varying compliance, allowing the distal tip to be highly compliant for safe insertion while the proximal section maintains stiffness for backup support, thus resolving the contradiction between compliance and strength.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter exhibits local quality variations where the distal portion is soft and compliant for artery-safe navigation, while the proximal portion is stiff for providing backup support, allowing both requirements to be satisfied simultaneously in different locations.
3Strength
If a guide catheter is deep seated into the coronary ostium to prevent dislodgement, then it provides better backup support, but it may occlude the coronary artery and interfere with blood flow
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter tip is designed with a curved or angled configuration that allows it to engage the coronary ostium at an optimal angle, providing backup support while maintaining clearance from the artery lumen to prevent occlusion and preserve blood flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter engages the ostium with just enough force and depth to provide adequate backup support without excessive engagement that would cause occlusion, applying the principle of partial action to achieve the minimum necessary support while avoiding harmful over-engagement.
4Strength
If a guide catheter has a complex mechanical design to provide backup support, then it can resist dislodging forces, but it may interfere with blood flow or occlude the artery
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter uses a segmented structural design with discrete stiffness zones rather than complex mechanical components, achieving backup support through material property variations and geometric segmentation while maintaining a simple profile that does not interfere with blood flow.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter achieves backup support by changing physical parameters such as wall thickness, material modulus, and cross-sectional geometry along its length, rather than using complex mechanical mechanisms, thereby providing strength while maintaining hemodynamic compatibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A coaxial guide catheter to be passed through guide catheter having a first lumen, for use with interventional cardiology devices that are insertable into a branch artery that branches off from a main artery. The coaxial guide catheter is extended through the lumen of the guide catheter and beyond the distal end of the guide catheter and inserted into the branch artery. The device assists in resisting axial and shear forces exerted by an interventional cardiology device passed through the second lumen and beyond the flexible distal tip portion that would otherwise tend to dislodge the guide catheter from the branch artery.