Fiber Control Rotor for Laser Therapy Depth Precision
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current laser therapies for treating epithelial cancers and precursors face challenges in accurately controlling and guiding treatment depth, leading to incomplete therapy or excessive damage, particularly in the esophagus where tissue variability and compliance complicate the delivery of precise treatment.
Innovation Solution
An imaging system with a fiber control apparatus that uses a rotor to manage the orientation and rotation of optical fibers, allowing for precise control of laser therapy depth and minimizing collateral damage by adjusting wavelength, power, and exposure duration, while also employing OFDI for high-resolution imaging and monitoring of thermal injury.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If laser therapy is applied to treat epithelial lesions, then therapeutic effect is achieved, but control over treatment depth becomes difficult leading to either incomplete therapy or excessive damage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic control of the catheter's rotational position and laser delivery timing to precisely control treatment depth. The system dynamically adjusts the orientation of the laser beam relative to the tissue surface by rotating the catheter to specific angular positions, enabling precise depth control while maintaining reliable therapeutic effect.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes multiple parameters including rotational angle, laser power, pulse duration, and wavelength to optimize both treatment depth control and therapeutic effectiveness. By varying these parameters in a coordinated manner, the system achieves precise depth control while ensuring complete destruction of pathological tissue.
2Reliability
If comprehensive ablation of epithelial lesions is performed, then complete therapy is achieved, but damage to underlying and adjacent tissues increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by delivering laser energy to specific localized regions of the tissue at controlled rotational positions. The treatment is applied in a segmented manner around the catheter circumference, allowing complete coverage of the lesion while limiting thermal diffusion to adjacent healthy tissues through precise spatial and temporal control.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses periodic rotation of the catheter with specific pulse sequences to deliver laser energy at controlled intervals. This periodic action allows heat dissipation between pulses and prevents excessive thermal accumulation in underlying tissues, achieving complete lesion ablation while minimizing collateral damage.
3Ease of operation
If fixed depth therapy is applied, then treatment simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to varying tissue thickness and disease depth is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically adapts the treatment protocol by adjusting rotational speed, laser power, and pulse duration based on real-time feedback from imaging modalities. This dynamic adaptation maintains operational simplicity for the operator while automatically adjusting to varying tissue thickness and disease depth across different patients and lesion locations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent incorporates feedback mechanisms where imaging data (such as OCT or fluorescence imaging) provides real-time information about tissue characteristics and lesion depth. This feedback is used to automatically adjust treatment parameters, maintaining simplicity of operation while achieving adaptability to individual patient anatomy and disease variation.
4Reliability
If high power laser is used to ensure complete destruction of pathology, then therapeutic efficacy improves, but risk of stricture and perforation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system employs periodic pulsed laser delivery with controlled duty cycles during rotational movement. High peak powers are used briefly during specific rotational positions to ensure complete pathology destruction, while the periodic nature of the pulses allows thermal diffusion during off-periods, preventing excessive heat accumulation that could lead to stricture or perforation.
Solution Approach 2:
The laser power is dynamically modulated during the rotational cycle, delivering high power only when the treatment zone is in the optimal positional orientation. This dynamic power adjustment ensures complete pathology destruction at critical locations while reducing power during other phases of rotation to prevent complications in adjacent tissues.
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
Enables precise and comprehensive treatment of epithelial lesions with reduced risk of complications by accurately controlling the depth of thermal injury and providing real-time monitoring of tissue responses, enhancing the effectiveness of therapy while minimizing damage to adjacent tissues.
Implementation Method 1
The rotor is structured to wind the at least one fiber from the outer spool onto the inner spool and to unwind the at least one fiber from the inner spool onto the outer spool
Implementation Method 2
A use of lasers for ablating or thermally destroying diseased tissue is known and at time preferred
Implementation Method 3
comprehensive killing, resecting or ablating the entire lesion without damage to underlying or adjacent tissues
Implementation Method 4
high-resolution ranging can be conducted in a tissue by detecting spectrally-resolved interference between the tissue sample and a reference while the source wavelength is tuned
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 2A~3
Figure 4
AI summary
An apparatus for controlling at least one of at least two sections of at least one fiber can be provided. The apparatus can include an arrangement which may be provided between the first and second sections of a particular continuous fiber of the fibers. A particular one of the first and second sections may be provided in a particular orientation that is perpendicular to an extension of the particular fiber. The arrangement is capable of controlling the particular fiber such that the particular one of the sections is capable of being rotated for at least 360° with respect to the particular orientation. The arrangement can include a further arrangement that is capable of at least partially wrapping the particular fiber around the second arrangement, and controlling the particular fiber such that the particular one of the sections is capable of being rotated with respect to the particular orientation during a transmission of the electro-magnetic radiation.