Flushable Catheter Using Biodegradable Polymer Blend
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices with elongate shafts, such as urinary catheters, are challenging to dispose of due to non-biodegradable materials, leading to environmental hazards and inconvenient disposal, especially when used outside hospital settings, and existing degradable alternatives do not adequately decompose quickly enough to prevent plumbing issues.
Innovation Solution
A urinary catheter made from a highly hydrolytically degradable material that retains structural integrity for short-term use but dissolves completely in turbulent water within 6 hours, allowing for safe flushing without clogging, using materials like sugar, starch, and additives for cost-effectiveness and environmental friendliness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If durable thermoplastic materials (polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride) are used for the catheter shaft, then the mechanical strength and durability are improved, but the environmental friendliness and ease of disposal deteriorate due to non-biodegradability and persistent pollution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters by using a blend of biodegradable polymers (PLA, PHB, PCL) instead of conventional thermoplastics. This material substitution maintains adequate mechanical strength for short-term use while enabling complete degradation within 6 hours in turbulent water, thereby resolving the contradiction between durability and environmental friendliness
Solution Approach 2:
The invention embraces the disposable nature of the catheter by designing it to be completely degradable after a single use. The catheter is intended to be flushed away after use, and its material composition ensures it disintegrates quickly in the plumbing system, eliminating long-term environmental persistence associated with traditional medical device materials
2Ease of manufacture
If degradable materials are used for the catheter shaft, then the ease of disposal is improved, but the mechanical strength and structural integrity deteriorate, making the device unsuitable for medical use
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs composite material formulation by blending multiple biodegradable polymers (PLA, PHB, PCL) in specific proportions. This composite approach combines the advantages of each component: PLA provides structural rigidity, while PHB and PCL contribute to flexibility and degradation control. The resulting composite maintains sufficient mechanical integrity for catheterization procedures while ensuring complete degradation within 6 hours
Solution Approach 2:
The material exhibits dynamic properties that adapt to different conditions: it maintains structural integrity during the brief period of medical use (minutes), then transitions to rapid degradation when exposed to turbulent water flow and microbial environments in the plumbing system (hours). This time-dependent behavioral change resolves the contradiction between needing strength during use and ease of disposal afterward
3Object-affected harmful factors
If existing hydrolytically degradable polymers are used, then the biodegradability is improved, but the degradation time is too long (6 months), causing plumbing clogging and flushing problems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent dramatically changes the degradation time parameter from months to hours by selecting specific biodegradable polymers and optimizing their blend composition. The chosen materials (PLA, PHB, PCL) have inherent hydrolytic and enzymatic degradation pathways that activate rapidly in the wet, microbially-active environment of plumbing systems, ensuring complete disintegration within 6 hours rather than 6 months
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces water as an intermediary medium that accelerates the degradation process. The material is designed to be hydrolytically unstable, meaning water molecules directly participate in breaking down the polymer chains. This intermediary role of water enables rapid degradation in the aqueous environment of flushing systems, resolving the time delay problem with conventional degradable materials
4Ease of manufacture
If the catheter is designed to degrade quickly in water, then the ease of flushing is improved, but the structural integrity during use deteriorates, risking device failure before completion of procedure
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter material exhibits dynamic mechanical properties that are context-dependent: during the brief period of insertion and use (minutes), the material maintains sufficient structural integrity and flexibility to perform its medical function reliably. Upon contact with turbulent water flow and microbial environments in the plumbing system (hours), the material transitions to rapid degradation. This temporal separation of functional integrity and degradation activity resolves the contradiction between reliability during use and ease of flushing afterward
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 provides convenient and hygienic disposal by dissolving in water within 6 hours, preventing clogging and environmental pollution, while maintaining mechanical integrity for use, and can be produced using conventional processes without hazardous solvents, ensuring both user safety and environmental sustainability.
Implementation Method 1
the degradable material becomes essentially totally dissolved if maintained in turbulent water at room temperature for at least 6 hours
Data Source
AI summary
A flushable medical device for short term use, such as a urinary catheter, is disclosed, and also a method for producing such a medical device. The medical device comprises at least an elongate shaft made of a degradable material, the degradability being such that the material becomes essentially totally dissolved if maintained in turbulent water at room temperature for at least 6 hours, but retains its structural integrity in water for at least 5 minutes, and preferably at least 10 minutes. Hereby, the medical device can be used for the intended short term use, and then be flushed in an ordinary toilet after use. The degradable material preferably comprises at least one of monosaccharide, disaccharide, oligosaccharide and polysaccharide. In a preferred embodiment, the the degradable material primarily comprises water, at least one of sugar and starch and gelatin.