Guide Extension Catheter Collar Structure for Coronary Access Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide catheters often lose positioning during minimally-invasive cardiac interventions due to the beating heart, requiring repositioning to maintain access to coronary arteries.
Innovation Solution
A guide extension catheter with a distal sheath and collar member, featuring ribs or channels extending from a base portion, stabilizes the guide catheter's position by extending beyond the ostium of the coronary artery, allowing improved access and maintaining alignment during interventions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a guide catheter is used in minimally-invasive cardiac interventions, then access to coronary arteries is obtained, but positioning is lost due to heart movement
Solution Approach 1:
The guide extension catheter is divided into distinct segments: a proximal member with a collar member containing ribs or channels, and a distal sheath member. This segmentation allows each component to perform specific functions - the collar member provides structural support and stabilization features, while the distal sheath extends into the coronary artery to maintain positioning against heart movement.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a dimensional extension by projecting the distal sheath member beyond the distal end of the guide catheter into the coronary artery. This extension into a new spatial dimension (beyond the original guide catheter tip) provides additional anchoring points and stability, preventing positioning loss due to cardiac motion.
2Reliability
If the guide extension catheter extends beyond the guide catheter into the coronary artery, then positioning stability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The collar member with ribs or channels serves multiple functions: it provides structural support, creates anchoring features for stabilization, and maintains the extended configuration of the distal sheath. This multi-functionality reduces the need for additional separate components, thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while achieving positioning stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide extension catheter is designed to be nested within or alongside the guide catheter system. The distal sheath member extends from the guide catheter, and the collar member with its ribs or channels provides a nested structure that organizes the extended components in a compact, manageable configuration, reducing operational complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the distal sheath member has a larger diameter than the proximal member, then access to coronary arteries is enhanced, but device flexibility is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter system employs local quality variations where the distal sheath member has a larger diameter specifically at its distal end to enhance coronary artery access and provide stabilization, while the proximal member maintains a smaller diameter for flexibility. This localized diameter variation allows the device to have different properties in different regions - rigidity and access capability at the distal end, and flexibility at the proximal end.
Solution Approach 2:
The collar member with ribs or channels is designed to maintain the extended configuration of the distal sheath while allowing controlled flexibility. The ribs or channels can deform or flex under physiological conditions, providing dynamic adaptation that maintains both the enhanced access capability of the larger diameter distal sheath and the necessary flexibility for navigation and positioning.
Data Source
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AI summary
Guide extension catheter (14) may include a proximal member having a proximal end, a distal end, and a proximal diameter. The guide extension catheter may additionally include a collar member (242) attached to the distal end of the proximal member, the collar member comprising a base portion (234) and one or more ribs (232) connected to the base portion and extending distally away from the base portion. In still some additional embodiments, the guide extension catheter may further include a distal sheath member (26) attached to the collar member, the distal sheath member having a distal diameter larger than the proximal diameter.