Distal Access Balloon Guide Catheter Kink Resistance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional guide catheters used for accessing the distal cerebrovasculature are prone to kinking and lack sufficient column strength to effectively navigate and treat occlusions in the brain's blood vessels, limiting their effectiveness in diagnosing and treating strokes.
Innovation Solution
A catheter device with a tubular member featuring a metal helix and polymeric material within a helical gap, combined with an inner liner and outer cover, providing enhanced flexibility and kink resistance, with a distal region design that includes a secondary balloon inflation/deflation channel for improved navigation and treatment capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If traditional guide catheters are used for accessing distal cerebrovasculature, then the catheter structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the catheter lacks sufficient column strength and is prone to kinking
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter shaft incorporates a metal helix (e.g., nitinol, stainless steel, or cobalt-chromium alloy) embedded within a polymeric material matrix (e.g., polyurethane, polyester, or polyamides). This composite construction provides enhanced column strength and kink resistance while maintaining flexibility, directly resolving the contradiction between strength and structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal helix is positioned specifically within the distal portion of the catheter shaft where enhanced strength and kink resistance are most needed for navigating tortuous cerebrovascular pathways. The polymeric material provides flexibility in regions requiring conformability, creating localized property optimization that addresses the strength- complexity contradiction.
2Ease of operation
If the catheter is made thinner and more flexible to navigate tortuous vessels, then the ease of operation improves, but the kink resistance and column strength decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The metal helix embedded in the polymeric matrix creates a composite structure where the metal provides structural integrity and kink resistance while the polymer ensures flexibility and ease of navigation. This composite approach allows the catheter to be thin and flexible for easy operation while maintaining reliability against kinking.
Solution Approach 2:
The metal helix introduces a curved, spiral reinforcement structure within the catheter shaft that inherently resists kinking while allowing controlled bending. The helical geometry provides progressive deformation capability, enabling the catheter to navigate tortuous vessels without compromising kink resistance.
3Strength
If the catheter wall thickness is increased to improve column strength, then the strength improves, but the inner diameter to wall thickness ratio decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The metal helix reinforcement within the polymeric matrix provides enhanced column strength without requiring a proportional increase in overall wall thickness. The high-strength metal components contribute significantly to structural integrity, allowing maintenance of a favorable inner diameter to wall thickness ratio while achieving the required strength levels.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter shaft is segmented into functional regions with the metal helix providing reinforcement specifically in the distal portion where column strength is most critical. This segmented reinforcement strategy strengthens the catheter where needed while preserving the overall diameter ratio in proximal regions.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
Distal access balloon guide catheter system for delivering implantable devices, catheters, or substances in or near and/or restoring flow through body lumens, such as blood vessel lumens, or inflating balloons affixed to the distal end of the guide catheter system are described. A Distal access balloon guide catheter (100) having a proximal region, an optional medial region of intermediate flexibility, and distal region possessing high flexibility, high resistance to kinking and a large lumen to wall thickness ratio. The balloon (118) is inflated by means of a kink-resistant secondary lumen (204) embedded within the walls of the balloon guide catheter system tubing (102).