Dual Closed-Loop Catheter System for Vascular Heat Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing patient temperature control systems, such as intravascular catheters, often cannot be customized for individual patients, leading to inefficiencies in heat exchange due to unused space in blood vessels, which affects the effectiveness of temperature regulation during conditions like severe brain trauma or post-surgery rewarming.
Innovation Solution
The use of a dual closed-loop heat exchange catheter system with a Y-shaped connector, where each catheter has various heat exchange segments like cylindrical balloons, non-straight links, or alternating bellows and fluted regions, allowing for more efficient heat exchange by circulating working fluid in closed loops and positioning both catheters in the same insertion site within the patient's vasculature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a single standard-sized heat exchange catheter is used, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of manufacture is improved, but the heat exchange efficiency deteriorates due to unused space in the blood vessel
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple heat exchange catheters (typically two) into a single functional system that operates together within the blood vessel. The catheters are inserted through a common access site and work synergistically to maximize heat exchange surface area and efficiency, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and heat exchange performance.
2Device complexity
If a single heat exchange catheter is used, then the device complexity is reduced, but the adaptability to individual patient anatomy deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs multiple catheters that can be positioned in different locations within the blood vessel to accommodate varying patient anatomies and clinical requirements. This multi-functional approach allows the system to adapt to individual patient needs while maintaining relatively simple individual catheter designs, thus resolving the contradiction between device complexity and adaptability.
3Productivity
If multiple heat exchange catheters are used, then the heat exchange efficiency is improved by reducing unused space, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent describes techniques where multiple catheters are inserted through a common access site and positioned within the blood vessel in a nested or coordinated manner. This approach maximizes heat exchange efficiency by utilizing the available vascular space fully, while the common access route simplifies the insertion procedure and reduces operational complexity compared to separate insertions.
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 configuration enhances the efficiency and effectiveness of temperature management by allowing for simultaneous and independent control of temperature in both catheters, improving heat exchange and reducing unused space in the blood vessels, thus optimizing patient temperature regulation.
Implementation Method 1
The first elongated heat exchange catheter is a closed loop catheter through which the working fluid can circulate in a closed loop, and the second elongated heat exchange catheter is a closed loop catheter through which the working fluid can circulate in a closed loop
Implementation Method 2
distal portions of the catheters are disposed inside a patient's vasculature to exchange heat with the patient
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for exchanging heat in a patient has a first elongated heat exchange catheter (24) carrying circulating working fluid to and from a heat exchange system (30) and a second elongated heat exchange catheter (26) carrying circulating working fluid to and from the heat exchange system. The apparatus has a connector (28) supporting proximal portions of both catheters while distal portions of the catheters are disposed inside a patient's vasculature to exchange heat with the patient.