Divided-Tip Urinary Catheter With Balloon-Formed Drainage Aperture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current urinary catheters cause physical trauma to the bladder, increase the risk of urinary tract infections, and suffer from residual urine accumulation due to elevated drainage ports that can lead to encrustations and blockages.
Innovation Solution
A catheter design featuring expandable balloons that enclose the catheter tips and create a horizontal aperture at the junction of the bladder and urethra, ensuring urine drainage without residual urine accumulation, while the balloons act as retention elements to secure the catheter within the bladder.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the drainage port is elevated above the retention balloon, then the catheter can be securely retained in the bladder, but residual urine accumulates below the drainage port leading to infection and encrustations
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple functional segments: a retention balloon for securing the catheter, a drainage port positioned at the balloon level, and a collection chamber that extends below the drainage port to capture residual urine. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, solving the contradiction between retention reliability and residual urine prevention.
2Productivity
If the catheter tip protrudes into the bladder wall to ensure drainage, then urine flow is maintained, but the bladder wall is damaged and the antibacterial barrier is impaired
Solution Approach 1:
The retention balloon acts as an intermediary element between the catheter and the bladder wall. When inflated, it creates a seal that maintains catheter position and ensures drainage without requiring the catheter tip to penetrate or protrude into the bladder wall, thereby preventing mechanical trauma while preserving the antibacterial barrier.
3Device complexity
If a single central drainage port is used, then the catheter structure is simple, but urine flow can be blocked when the port sinks into the urethra due to body position changes
Solution Approach 1:
The collection chamber extends in the vertical dimension below the drainage port, creating a reservoir that captures urine regardless of the drainage port's orientation or position. This dimensional extension ensures that urine flow is maintained even when body position changes cause the drainage port to sink into the urethra, as the collection chamber continues to receive and hold urine.
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
Prevents bladder damage, reduces infection risk, and maintains consistent urine flow regardless of body position, effectively addressing issues of trauma and residual urine in existing catheter designs.
Implementation Method 1
expandable balloons that enclose the catheter tips and create a horizontal aperture at the junction of the bladder and urethra
Implementation Method 2
the balloons act as retention elements to secure the catheter within the bladder
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3A
AI summary
The present invention discloses a urinary catheter that utilizes balloons to generate a method of urine drainage. The disclosed invention does not implement a traditional drainage port and avoids an exposed catheter tip. Rather, this invention consists of a multi-lumen shaft with a divided tip that generates a horizontal aperture for urine drainage when separated. The invention utilizes retention members that can take the form of multiple expandable balloons or a singular, expandable, central balloon. The balloon element can consist of balloons that are attached separately to each divided tip or one balloon shared with adjacent divided tips so that when the balloon element expands, a communication channel is revealed between the bladder and the central lumen of the shaft, ultimately generating a method of urine drainage.