Detachable Catheter Handle Assembly for Integrated Imaging Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical procedures face challenges with poor visualization and cumbersome hardware removal in catheterization, leading to inefficiencies and increased risk of adverse events due to the coordination issues between surgical and imaging units, and the need for disassembly or cutting of hardware during catheter use.
Innovation Solution
Integrated systems with detachable and removable hardware, such as sheaths and valves, and handle assemblies that allow for precise control and positioning of multiple medical devices, enabling easier removal without disassembly or cutting, and improved visualization through integrated imaging units.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate mechanical imaging and procedural equipment are used, then each device can be optimized for its specific function, but coordination between units becomes difficult leading to loss of visualization during heart motion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines separate imaging and procedural devices into an integrated system where the imaging catheter and procedural catheter are mechanically linked. This merging ensures that both devices move together through heart motion, maintaining continuous visualization and eliminating coordination difficulties between separate units.
Solution Approach 2:
The integrated system allows a single mechanical assembly to perform multiple functions: the imaging catheter provides visualization while the procedural catheter delivers treatment tools. Both functions share the same mechanical coordination system, enabling multi-functional operation without requiring separate control systems.
2Strength
If traditional hardware is used in constricted spaces, then the catheter body and lumen provide structural support, but they impede freedom-of-movement after insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter system is divided into modular segments: a removable sheath component and a catheter body. The sheath can be detached after insertion, allowing the catheter to be repositioned or removed without the constraint of the sheath material, thereby improving freedom-of-movement while maintaining structural support where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static, fixed structure to a dynamic, adjustable configuration. The detachable sheath allows the catheter to change its mechanical constraints during the procedure - initially constrained by the sheath for protection, then freed for enhanced maneuverability when the sheath is removed.
3Ease of manufacture
If hardware is removed by disassembly or cutting, then the hardware can be detached from the catheter, but mechanical stress increases at the catheter insertion point
Solution Approach 1:
The sheath is designed as a separate, removable component that can be extracted from the catheter body through a controlled mechanism. This extraction allows hardware removal without requiring cutting or disassembly of the catheter itself, thereby reducing mechanical stress at the insertion point while maintaining ease of hardware detachment.
4Productivity
If integrated multi-device systems are used, then coordination between imaging and procedural units is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple devices are merged into a single integrated system with shared mechanical and control components. The imaging and procedural catheters are physically linked, allowing simultaneous operation and coordination. This merging improves productivity by eliminating the need to coordinate separate devices while the shared mechanics reduce overall system complexity compared to managing multiple independent systems.
Data Source
AI summary
A handle apparatus comprising detachable hardware and void regions or attachment devices that accommodate the shape of surgical devices and imaging units such that the device is held securely and mechanically fixed to the imaging unit within the handle assembly.