Dual Balloon Catheter for Branch Vessel Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional balloon catheters face challenges in effectively treating vessel blockages near branch vessels or repairing vessel dissections due to difficulties in inflating balloons across branch vessel openings without causing damage or inadequate blockage of the true lumen.
Innovation Solution
A medical system featuring a balloon catheter with an inner and outer balloon, along with daughter balloons, which allows for independent inflation and deployment through a shaft with delivery lumens, enabling precise engagement with branch vessels and enhanced sealing and support of the vessel wall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a traditional balloon is inflated across a branch vessel opening to treat a blockage in a main vessel, then the blockage can be opened up, but the branch vessel may be damaged or the true lumen may not be effectively blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon is divided into multiple independent sections: a first balloon for the main vessel and a second balloon for the branch vessel. Each balloon can be independently inflated and controlled, allowing the main vessel blockage to be treated without compromising the branch vessel. The segmentation enables selective engagement with different vascular structures simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The first and second balloons are nested within a single catheter shaft, with the second balloon positioned within the lumen defined by the first balloon. This nested configuration allows both balloons to be delivered through the same access point and controlled from the same distal end, enabling coordinated treatment of main vessel and branch vessel without requiring separate catheter interventions.
2Device complexity
If a single balloon is used to treat both main vessel and branch vessel, then device complexity is reduced, but precise treatment of each vessel is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon assembly is segmented into distinct first and second balloons with independent inflation lumens, allowing precise control of each balloon's expansion. This segmentation enables independent adjustment of each balloon's size and position, achieving precise engagement with specific vascular structures while maintaining a unified catheter design.
Solution Approach 2:
The balloon system incorporates dynamic control through separate inflation lumens for each balloon, allowing real-time adjustment of each balloon's expansion state. The first and second balloons can be inflated, deflated, or adjusted independently during the procedure, enabling adaptive treatment based on real-time vascular anatomy and response.
3Reliability
If the balloon is made compliant to conform to vessel shape, then vessel support is improved, but control over balloon expansion in different sections is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The compliant balloon is segmented into multiple sections with independent inflation lumens, allowing each section to be controlled separately while maintaining overall compliance. The first balloon and second balloon can be inflated independently to different extents, enabling precise control over expansion in different vascular regions while preserving the compliant characteristics needed for vessel support and conformity.
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
This system effectively supports and dilates body vessels by allowing precise deployment and inflation of balloons within and around branch vessels, improving the treatment of vessel blockages and dissections while minimizing damage and ensuring effective blood flow management.
Implementation Method 1
A compliant balloon is introduced to a location adjacent the tear in the vessel wall, and the balloon is inflated to block blood flow
Implementation Method 2
the aortic wall can weaken, resulting in an aneurysm, or it may develop a tear in one of the layers of the aortic wall
Data Source
Figure 1~2C
Figure 3~6
Figure 7~9
AI summary
A system for providing lumen support and dilation includes a balloon catheter having an inner balloon (119) and an outer balloon (118) bonded to a shaft (116), with the outer balloon subsuming the inner balloon and defining an intermediate space therebetween. The outer balloon has holes formed in an outer wall, with the inner balloon being free from holes. The shaft includes a delivery lumen in communication with the intermediate space. Daughter balloons (150) are deliverable into the intermediate space through the delivery lumen and into engagement with holes formed in the outer balloon, where the daughter balloons are inflated and retained by the holes of the outer balloon. The catheter may include one or more preloaded wires (140) extending through the delivery lumen and into the intermediate space and through the holes, such that the daughter balloons are deliverable over the wires into the corresponding hole.