Electrode Attachment to Coiled Medical Cables via Solder Ball
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for attaching electrodes to cabling, such as those used in medical catheters, face challenges in efficiently and securely connecting electrodes to insulated wires while maintaining mechanical integrity and minimizing damage to small conductive wires.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a cable with transparent sheath and differently colored insulation layers to visually identify wires, where insulation is removed to create an access channel, and a solder ball is used to electrically connect the electrode to the conductor by melting and solidifying the solder, ensuring a secure and durable connection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If electrodes are attached to insulated wires in coiled cabling, then electrical connection is achieved, but the wires are vulnerable to mechanical damage and connection reliability is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
A solder ball is introduced as an intermediary component between the electrode and the insulated wire. The solder ball is positioned in a depression on the electrode surface, creating a mechanical and electrical connection that distributes stress away from the fragile insulated wire, thereby reducing wire damage risk while maintaining reliable electrical connection.
Solution Approach 2:
The insulated wire is threaded through a hollow needle before the soldering process. The needle provides preliminary mechanical support and positioning, ensuring the wire is properly aligned and protected during the subsequent soldering operation, which prevents wire damage and ensures connection reliability.
2Productivity
If multiple electrodes are attached to densely packed coiled wires, then high-density attachment is achieved, but visual identification and access to individual wires becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Different insulating layers on the wires are colored differently to enable visual identification of individual wires within the densely packed coiled cabling. This color coding system allows operators to quickly locate and identify specific wires during the electrode attachment process, maintaining high productivity while reducing identification difficulty.
Solution Approach 2:
A section of the outer sheath is removed to create an access channel that exposes the colored insulating layers of the coiled wires. This extraction of the sheath portion provides visual access to the color-coded wires for identification while maintaining the protective sheath structure for the remaining cabling.
3Ease of manufacture
If the sheath is removed to access the wire, then electrode connection is enabled, but mechanical protection of the wire is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The sheath removal is segmented to affect only a specific localized section at the connection point, rather than removing the entire sheath. This creates an access channel precisely where needed for electrode attachment while preserving the mechanical protection of the sheath along the rest of the cabling, maintaining wire strength where protection is still required.
Solution Approach 2:
The sheath is removed only at the specific location where electrode connection is required, creating a localized access channel. The remaining portions of the sheath retain their mechanical protective function, providing local quality differentiation between protected and accessed regions of the cabling.
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 method allows for a high-density attachment of electrodes with enhanced mechanical strength and reduced risk of wire damage, suitable for invasive medical procedures, enabling reliable electrical measurements.
Implementation Method 1
fastening the respective electrode comprises melting the solder ball so that solidified solder connects the respective section of the respective conductor, via the respective access channel, to the respective electrode
Implementation Method 2
positioning a solder ball in proximity to the respective access channel prior to fastening the respective electrode, and wherein fastening the respective electrode comprises melting the solder ball so that solidified solder connects the respective section of the respective conductor
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 2C~2D
AI summary
A method for attaching an electrode to cabling, including providing a cable having a plurality of insulated wires coiled around a central core. The method further includes removing insulation from each wire in a set of the coiled wires so as to provide a respective access channel to a respective section of a respective conductor of each wire in the set while the respective section remains coiled on the central core. The method further includes fastening a respective electrode to the respective access channel while the respective section remains coiled on the central core.