Expandable Guide Wire for Cardiac Lead Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide wire systems for implantable medical leads face challenges in securely navigating and positioning medical devices within the heart, particularly in maintaining position relative to tissue walls during implantation.
Innovation Solution
A guide wire system comprising an elongated body with a distal tip configured to penetrate tissue walls, a support portion with radially expandable expansion members between slits, and a pull wire to exert proximal forces, allowing the system to expand radially and maintain position within tissue walls.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the guide wire system uses a simple elongated body without expansion members, then the device complexity is low, but the ability to maintain position relative to tissue walls during implantation is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire system employs an expansion member that can dynamically change its radial dimension. In the compressed state, the elongated body has a first radial dimension that allows easy navigation through tissue. When expanded, it achieves a second radial dimension that provides stable positioning against the tissue wall, thus resolving the contradiction between simplicity and position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the radial dimension parameter of the elongated body by compressing or expanding the expansion member. This parameter change allows the guide wire to transition between a low-profile navigation state and a high-friction positioning state, achieving both easy insertion and stable positioning without requiring multiple separate components.
2Reliability
If the guide wire system applies strong proximal force to maintain position, then the position stability improves, but the risk of tissue damage increases
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion member provides dynamic radial expansion that increases the contact surface area between the guide wire and tissue wall. This distributed contact reduces the force concentration, allowing position stability to be achieved with lower overall forces, thereby minimizing tissue damage risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a one-dimensional longitudinal insertion to a two-dimensional radial expansion. By expanding radially outward, the guide wire creates frictional engagement with the tissue wall in a different dimension, achieving position stability through surface area increase rather than force concentration.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the elongated body maintains a constant radial dimension, then the manufacturing precision is high, but the ability to navigate through tissue and maintain position is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The expansion member is designed with controlled variability in radial dimension. The elongated body can be manufactured with precise dimensions in the compressed state for consistent navigation, while the expansion mechanism provides controlled dimensional change for positioning. This separates the navigation phase (precise, compressed) from the positioning phase (expandable, adaptive).
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
The guide wire system effectively navigates through tissue walls, maintains position during implantation, and provides counter-traction to medical devices, ensuring secure placement and easy withdrawal without causing tissue damage.
Implementation Method 1
the expansion member is configured to expand radially outward from the inner lumen when the proximal force is exerted on the distal portion
Implementation Method 2
the expansion member is resiliently biased to displace toward the inner lumen when the proximal force exerted by the pull wire decreases
Data Source
AI summary
A guide wire system configured to guide a medical device (e.g., a medical lead) to a target area within a patient. The guide wire system may be configured to penetrate and pass through a tissue wall in the patient to guide the medical device to the target area. The guide wire system includes a support section configured to expand to substantially maintain a position relative to the tissue wall. The guide wire system includes a pull wire configured to cause the support portion to expand. The expanded support section may provide counter-traction to a distal force on the tissue wall exerted by a medical device during, for example, fixation of the medical device to the target area, or other stages of an implantation. The support section is configured to re-establish an initial configuration for proximal withdrawal from the tissue wall.