Concealed-Blade Cutting Balloon Catheter for Tortuous Vessels
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cutting balloon catheters struggle with poor passage through tortuous and angulated blood vessels, risking damage to normal vessels due to exposed blades and inflexible design.
Innovation Solution
A cutting balloon catheter with concealed blades, featuring a collapsible balloon, inner and outer tubes, and a cutting assembly with support rings and flexible members, allowing radial elastic deformation and sliding, packaged within a protective bag to minimize vessel damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If blades are arranged axially on the outer peripheral surface of the balloon with a blade base bonded to the balloon by glue, then the cutting function is achieved, but the diameter of the collapsed balloon becomes large, resulting in poor passing ability through tortuous blood vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The blade base is extracted from the collapsed state and stored inside the protective bag, while blades are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the balloon. When the balloon expands, blades extend outward to perform cutting, while in collapsed state they are contained within the protective bag, reducing the diameter and improving passing ability through tortuous blood vessels.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade base is nested inside the protective bag, and blades are arranged on the outer peripheral surface of the balloon. The protective bag acts as a container that holds the blade base and allows blades to be stored in a compact form, enabling the catheter to pass through tortuous blood vessels while maintaining cutting functionality when deployed.
2Ease of manufacture
If stainless steel blades with large hardness are fixed on the balloon by glue, then cutting effectiveness is improved, but the catheter cannot withstand bending, increasing the risk of damage to normal blood vessels during pushing
Solution Approach 1:
The blade base material is changed from rigid stainless steel to a flexible material that can withstand bending. This parameter change allows the catheter to be pushed through tortuous blood vessels without causing damage to normal blood vessels, while still maintaining cutting effectiveness when the blades are deployed at the lesion site.
Solution Approach 2:
The blade base is made of a flexible material that combines cutting functionality with bendability. This composite structure allows the catheter to navigate tortuous blood vessels safely while maintaining the ability to perform effective cutting when deployed, resolving the contradiction between hardness for cutting and flexibility for safety.
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple short blades are arranged at intervals and supported by a blade base, then cutting function is achieved, but the catheter cannot pass through tortuous blood vessels or angulated lesions with angles greater than 45 degrees
Solution Approach 1:
The blade base is designed to be dynamic and flexible, allowing it to bend and adapt to the shape of tortuous blood vessels. This dynamic structure enables the catheter to pass through vessels with angles greater than 45 degrees and navigate complex vascular anatomy while maintaining cutting functionality at the lesion site.
Solution Approach 2:
The flexibility parameter of the blade base is increased by using flexible materials that can withstand bending. This parameter change enables the catheter to adapt to tortuous blood vessels and angulated lesions, expanding its versatility to treat a wider range of vascular anatomy while maintaining effective cutting capability.
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
Enhances passage through complex vessels, reduces risk of damage, and enables effective cutting at varied angles while avoiding complications like perforation and restenosis.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of first support rings sleeved on the outer tube and a blade group arranged on each of the first support rings, wherein the plurality of the first support rings are arranged along an axial direction of the inner tube and capable of generating radial elastic deformation and sliding freely
Implementation Method 2
a protective bag, having a distal end connected with the proximal end of the tip and a proximal end connected with the push-pull tube, and configured to encapsulate the balloon and the cutting assembly
Implementation Method 3
when the cutting assembly is pushed to the balloon by the push-pull tube, after the balloon is expanded, the blade group cuts a section of the protective bag opposite to the balloon so as to expose the blade group
Data Source
AI summary
A cutting balloon catheter with concealed blades is provided. A pressure channel communicated with the balloon is formed by a gap between the outer tube and the inner tube. The cutting assembly includes first support rings sleeved on the outer tube and a blade group, the first support rings are capable of generating radial elastic deformation and sliding freely. The push-pull tube is sleeved on the outer tube, and the protective bag is configured to encapsulate the balloon and the cutting assembly. When the cutting assembly is pushed to the balloon, after the balloon is expanded, the blade group cuts a section of the protective bag opposite to the balloon to expose the blade group. The catheter can pass through the complex and tortuous blood vessels to reach the lesion site, and realize effective cutting while reducing the damage to the blood vessels.