Cooled Microwave Denervation Catheter Balloon Cooling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current catheter configurations for microwave denervation lack efficient cooling mechanisms and optimal lumen designs, which can lead to inadequate temperature control and reduced effectiveness in targeting nerves for denervation procedures.
Innovation Solution
A cooled microwave denervation catheter with a balloon configuration that circulates cooling fluid around a microwave antenna, positioned within a catheter body with a taper to securely house the antenna, allowing for precise temperature control and efficient energy delivery to targeted nerves while minimizing thermal damage to the vessel wall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If a traditional catheter configuration is used for microwave denervation, then the catheter structure is simpler, but temperature control is inadequate and thermal damage to the vessel wall occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into functionally distinct segments: a cooling segment with a balloon and fluid passage for thermal management, and a microwave delivery segment with the antenna. This segmentation allows independent optimization of cooling and microwave delivery functions, resolving the contradiction between temperature control and structural simplicity.
Solution Approach 2:
The microwave antenna is positioned within the catheter body through a tapered engagement mechanism, where the antenna catheter nests into the main catheter structure. The balloon is inflated within the catheter to surround the antenna. This nested configuration enables integrated temperature control and microwave delivery without requiring entirely separate systems.
2Temperature
If multiple lumens are used in the catheter for cooling and microwave delivery, then temperature control improves, but the number of lumens increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The single interior lumen of the catheter body serves multiple functions: it guides the microwave antenna catheter during insertion, houses the antenna during treatment, and allows cooling fluid to circulate around the antenna. This multi-functional use of a single lumen achieves temperature control without increasing the number of lumens.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling function and microwave delivery function are merged within a single catheter body structure. The cooling fluid passage and microwave antenna share the same catheter housing, with the balloon surrounding the antenna within the same lumen space. This merging reduces the total number of separate lumens needed compared to having separate catheters for each function.
3Measurement precision
If the catheter lumen is designed to accommodate the antenna securely, then microwave energy delivery precision improves, but the lumen design becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The tapered section is pre-formed in the catheter body at the desired engagement location. As the antenna catheter is inserted into the catheter lumen, the taper automatically guides and positions the antenna at the correct depth and orientation before treatment begins. This preliminary structural preparation achieves precise positioning without requiring complex active positioning mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter lumen incorporates an asymmetric tapered section rather than a uniform cylindrical shape. This asymmetric geometry creates a unique engagement interface with the antenna catheter, providing mechanical guidance and precise positioning through the geometric constraint alone, simplifying the overall positioning mechanism.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If cooling fluid is circulated around the microwave antenna, then thermal damage to the vessel wall is minimized, but the catheter requires additional components for fluid circulation
Solution Approach 1:
The cooling balloon is positioned locally around the microwave antenna at the treatment site, providing cooling only where it is most needed—immediately surrounding the heat-generating antenna and the adjacent vessel wall. This localized cooling approach minimizes thermal damage without requiring system-wide cooling infrastructure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cooling balloon filled with circulating fluid acts as an intermediary thermal management layer between the microwave antenna and the vessel wall. It absorbs excess heat from the antenna through fluid circulation while protecting the vessel wall from thermal damage, mediating the thermal interaction without requiring direct contact between the antenna and cooling mechanism.
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 solution enables precise denervation by maintaining the vessel wall at a safe temperature, reducing the number of lumens required, and accommodating larger guide wires for improved support, thus enhancing the effectiveness and safety of the procedure.
Implementation Method 1
circulating cooling fluid around a microwave antenna... maintaining the vessel wall at a safe temperature
Implementation Method 2
microwave energy to be emitted from the microwave antenna
Implementation Method 3
supply power to the microwave antenna to cause microwave energy to be emitted from the microwave antenna toward the targeted nerves
Data Source
AI summary
A method of performing denervation with a cooled microwave denervation catheter assembly includes advancing a catheter body over a guide wire in a body lumen of a patient to a treatment location adjacent targeted nerves, with the guide wire being located in an interior lumen of the catheter body, inflating the balloon with cooling fluid to contact a wall of the body lumen of the patient, removing the guide wire from the interior lumen of the catheter body, and inserting a microwave antenna catheter into the interior lumen of the catheter body, so that denervation treatment may be performed by simultaneously circulating cooling fluid in the balloon and supplying power to the microwave antenna, to cause the targeted nerves to be heated to a temperature sufficient to cause thermal damage while the wall of the body lumen is maintained at a temperature where thermal damage does not occur.