Directional Stent Deflecting Catheter Trajectory for Neurovascular Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current minimally invasive surgical devices face challenges in accessing hard-to-reach areas within the brain and skull due to small and tortuous blood vessels and bony sinuses, often requiring invasive procedures like drilling through the scalp and skull.
Innovation Solution
A neurovascular venous access system featuring a tubular stent with internal structural members that deflect a catheter's distal end portion at various angles, allowing for precise navigation and access to brain regions without drilling through the skull, using radiopaque materials for imaging guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional percutaneous access methods are used to reach brain and skull areas, then direct access to internal areas is achieved, but invasive procedures requiring cutting through scalp and skull are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a directional stent as an intermediary device deployed in a venous sinus to mediate between the accessible venous system and the hard-to-reach brain/skull areas. The stent provides a controlled interface with openings that guide catheters to target locations, eliminating the need for direct percutaneous cutting through scalp and skull while maintaining access capability
2Object-affected harmful factors
If catheters are navigated through small and tortuous blood vessels to reach brain areas, then minimally invasive access is achieved, but navigation becomes difficult due to vessel geometry
Solution Approach 1:
The directional stent serves as an intermediary structure that simplifies navigation through tortuous vessels. By deploying the stent in an accessible venous sinus, the system creates a relatively straight, controlled pathway from the venous system to the target brain or skull area, eliminating the need to navigate complex vessel geometry directly
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from navigating through the three-dimensional complexity of tortuous blood vessels to accessing target areas through a different dimensional approach - using the venous sinus as a landing zone and the stent's structural openings to provide direct directional access to the target site
3Measurement precision
If directional stent with internal structural members is used to deflect catheter, then precise navigation and controlled access is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The directional stent is segmented into functional components: the tubular body providing structural support, the sidewall openings providing access pathways, and the internal structural members providing deflection control. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while keeping the overall design manageable and purposeful
Data Source
AI summary
An extravascular access system includes a tubular stent configured to be deployed in a blood vessel, the stent having a sidewall and a proximal end opening and an internal scaffolding comprising one or more structural members, and an elongate access catheter having a distal end portion configured to access the blood vessel wherein when the stent is deployed in the blood vessel, and the distal end portion of the catheter is inserted into the proximal end opening of the stent, the one or more internal structural members of the stent deflect the distal end portion of the catheter towards a wall of the blood vessel.