Extendible Memory Metal Catheter Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current catheter technologies face challenges in accurately positioning and maintaining the distal end for targeted delivery of therapeutic or diagnostic agents to the heart, often resulting in accidental abrasion or perforation of tissues, particularly in thin-walled areas like the right ventricle, and require the use of blood thinners to prevent clotting, which can lead to uncontrolled bleeding.
Innovation Solution
A positionable direct-injection catheter with extendible needles made of memory metal that can be deployed at a 70-80 degree angle to anchor into the tissue, reducing the risk of puncture and allowing for precise, controlled delivery of agents through multiple apertures, and a handle mechanism for steering and agent delivery, enabling access via arm arteries to minimize systemic loss and avoid occluded regions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a catheter is made flexible to follow blood vessels, then it can navigate the vascular system, but it becomes difficult to control for accurate targeted agent delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple segments with different degrees of flexibility. The proximal portion is more flexible to navigate blood vessels, while the distal portion is stiffer to provide control stability and reduce tip movement during agent delivery
Solution Approach 2:
Different portions of the catheter have different mechanical properties. The catheter transitions from a flexible proximal section for navigation to a stiffer distal section for precise control, with each section optimized for its specific function
2Manufacturing precision
If an extendible needle is used for accurate medication delivery, then targeted delivery is improved, but the risk of scratching or perforating tissue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The needle is extended only after the catheter tip has been properly positioned against the tissue, and only for the brief duration needed to deliver the agent. The needle remains retracted during catheter insertion and positioning to eliminate unnecessary tissue exposure
Solution Approach 2:
The extendible needle mechanism replaces continuous catheter movement with controlled, minimal needle extension. This substitution reduces tissue exposure time and allows for more precise control over the depth and duration of tissue contact
3Ease of operation
If the catheter is inserted through femoral arteries, then access to heart blood vessels is achieved, but abrasions occur at sharp bends in the vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter employs a flexible construction with a smooth outer surface that can conform to the contours of blood vessels. The flexible material allows the catheter to navigate sharp bends without creating friction points that would cause vessel wall abrasion
4Reliability
If blood thinners are administered to prevent clotting, then clot formation is reduced, but uncontrolled internal bleeding risk increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extendible needle design extracts the tissue-penetrating function from the catheter body, allowing the catheter to remain in the vessel lumen without penetrating the wall. This eliminates the need for blood thinners by removing the source of tissue injury that would otherwise require anticoagulant management
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 catheter achieves precise and safe delivery of therapeutic agents to specific heart regions with reduced risk of tissue damage, eliminating the need for blood thinners and allowing for rapid treatment with minimal systemic loss, enhancing patient safety and treatment efficacy.
Implementation Method 1
extendible needles made of memory metal that can be deployed at a 70-80 degree angle to anchor into the tissue
Data Source
AI summary
A positionable, direct-injection catheter that can access a specific region of the heart or other organ. The catheter is provided with one or two needle shafts, which may be located within respective sheaths that extend axially along the interior of the lumen of a main catheter shaft. Each needle shaft carries, at a distal end thereof a penetrable element or “needle” that is normally retracted within the distal tip of the main shaft during travel to the target organ, but is subsequently deployed by action of a handle-mounted trigger mechanism to extend the needles into the organ's wall. Each extended needle is curved to relative to the shaft's axis to enter the organ wall in a flattened trajectory that both reduces the chance of puncture through the wall and anchors the needles into the wall during injection (for reduced chance of pullout under pressure). A plurality of apertures which provide for more complete agent delivery rapidly, while maintaining a low delivery velocity to effect treatment delivery in as short a period of time as possible without the problems caused by high velocity delivery. The needles are typically arranged to exit the tip at contralateral orientations relative to each other.