Distal Tip Payload Catheter for Controlled Foam Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional treatments for wounds or cysts in the GI tract, bile ducts, and pancreas are invasive, complex, and require frequent surveillance, lacking adaptable and less-invasive options for safe and controlled use.
Innovation Solution
A medical delivery device with a distal tip portion and shaft that includes fluid channels, a guide wire channel, and a deployment mechanism to deliver bio-absorbable foam or other materials to treatment sites using a scope device, allowing for controlled deployment and absorption of fluids.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a catheter-based delivery system is used to access intracardiac structures, then minimally invasive access is achieved, but the catheter may become entangled or stuck in the heart chambers
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system employs a nested configuration where the inner catheter assembly is contained within the outer catheter. The inner catheter can be advanced through the outer catheter to deploy the anchor device, and both catheters can be withdrawn together if entanglement occurs, allowing the entire assembly to be removed as a single unit without leaving foreign objects in the heart chambers.
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery system is divided into distinct segments including an outer catheter, inner catheter, anchor device, and retrieval components. Each segment has specific functions that can be independently controlled during deployment, and can be separately manipulated during retrieval if needed, providing flexibility in managing catheter positioning and entanglement scenarios.
2Reliability
If an anchor device is deployed to secure a prosthetic valve, then valve stability is improved, but the delivery system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system combines multiple functions into integrated components. The outer catheter serves both as a delivery conduit and a structural support for the anchor device. The inner catheter integrates both delivery and retrieval functions, eliminating the need for separate retrieval catheters and simplifying the overall system architecture while maintaining valve stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The inner catheter is designed with multi-functionality, serving as both a delivery mechanism for the anchor device and a retrieval tool for both the anchor and prosthetic valve. This universal component reduces the total number of devices needed and simplifies the delivery system while ensuring reliable valve anchoring.
3Ease of operation
If the inner catheter is made flexible to navigate heart chambers, then navigation capability is improved, but pushability and support for device deployment decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter system employs dynamic structural characteristics where the outer catheter provides rigid support during deployment phases, while the inner catheter maintains flexibility for navigation. The combination allows the system to adapt its mechanical properties based on the operational phase, providing both navigability and pushability as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the catheter system have differentiated mechanical properties. The outer catheter features a more rigid structure to provide pushability and support, while the inner catheter has enhanced flexibility for navigation. The anchor device itself has localized structural variations with rigid anchoring elements and flexible connecting portions, optimizing both navigation and deployment forces.
Data Source
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AI summary
A medical device, for example a delivery catheter, may include a handle portion, a shaft portion extending distally from the handle portion, a deployment mechanism, and an actuation member positioned on the handle portion. The shaft portion may include a working channel and a distal tip portion having a payload chamber configured to receive a payload, such as a bio-absorbable foam. The distal tip portion may be operatively connected to the working channel. The deployment mechanism may be positioned in the working channel, and may be operable to deploy the payload out from the distal tip portion. The actuation member may be actuatable to operate the deployment mechanism.