Extended-Tip Balloon Catheter to Reduce TIPS Exchanges
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Solution Overview
Problem
The TIPS procedure is technically challenging due to its complexity and requires multiple exchanges of needles, guidewires, catheters, and guide sheaths, making it arduous for interventional radiologists.
Innovation Solution
The use of an extended-tip angioplasty balloon catheter with an inflatable member, which allows for reduced catheter exchanges by facilitating direct access to the portal vein and liver parenchyma, enabling a streamlined procedure through a series of optimized steps.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional TIPS procedure is performed with multiple catheter exchanges, then complete shunt creation is achieved, but procedural complexity and operator burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple separate catheter functions into a single integrated catheter system. The first catheter performs both hepatic vein access and portal vein puncture, while the second catheter handles both tract dilation and stent delivery. This merging eliminates the need for multiple catheter exchanges and reduces procedural complexity while maintaining complete shunt creation.
Solution Approach 2:
The first catheter is designed with multi-functionality to access both the hepatic vein and portal vein, and the second catheter serves multiple purposes including tract dilation and stent delivery. This universality allows a single catheter to perform what previously required multiple specialized catheters, thereby reducing procedural steps and operator burden.
2Reliability
If multiple catheter exchanges are performed, then adequate tract dilation and stent delivery are achieved, but procedural time and operator fatigue increase
Solution Approach 1:
The first catheter is advanced through the liver parenchyma and into the portal vein before the second catheter is introduced. This preliminary positioning creates a prepared pathway that allows the second catheter to be directly advanced for dilation and stent delivery without requiring intermediate catheter exchanges, thereby reducing procedural time while ensuring adequate tract preparation.
Solution Approach 2:
The procedure maintains continuous useful action by having the first catheter establish the pathway and immediately followed by the second catheter performing dilation and stent delivery along the same continuous tract. This continuous progression through well-defined anatomical landmarks eliminates interruptions and reduces overall procedural time.
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 approach simplifies the TIPS procedure by reducing the number of steps and catheter exchanges, enhancing procedural ergonomics and efficiency for operators.
Implementation Method 1
Expand said inflatable member to create a pilot lumen within said liver parenchyma
Data Source
AI summary
The invention comprises a method of performance of a percutaneous portosystemic shunt procedure, said method comprising a means of improving operator efficiency.