Guide Catheter Side Channels for Lower Push Force Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guide catheters for prosthetic medical devices face challenges such as reduced space for fluid flow and increased push forces due to friction and vacuum creation, which can hinder the efficient navigation and implantation of delivery apparatuses in the vasculature.
Innovation Solution
The guide catheters are designed with axially extending channels fluidly coupled and radially offset from the main lumen, providing an alternate pathway for fluid flow around the delivery apparatus, reducing pressure gradients and push forces, and maintaining hemostasis during navigation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If a guide catheter uses a single main lumen to receive a delivery apparatus, then the structure is simple, but the space for fluid flow is reduced and push forces increase
Solution Approach 1:
The guide catheter shaft is segmented into multiple lumens (main lumen and one or more side lumens) instead of a single lumen. The side lumens are positioned radially offset from the main lumen and provide additional pathways for fluid flow, thereby reducing pressure gradients and push forces during delivery apparatus advancement while maintaining overall structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces side lumens that extend in a radial direction offset from the main lumen's axial direction. This dimensional change creates additional fluid flow pathways in a different spatial orientation, allowing fluid to flow around the delivery apparatus more effectively and reducing resistance without increasing the catheter's external dimensions.
2Volume of moving object
If the main lumen is used for both fluid flow and receiving the delivery apparatus, then the design is compact, but friction increases and navigation efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The internal volume of the catheter is segmented into multiple functional lumens. The main lumen receives the delivery apparatus while side lumens are dedicated to fluid flow. This segmentation allows each lumen to be optimized for its specific function, reducing friction between the delivery apparatus and catheter wall while improving navigation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The side lumens act as intermediary fluid pathways that mediate between the main lumen and the external environment. Fluid flows through these intermediary channels around the delivery apparatus, reducing direct contact and friction, thereby improving navigation efficiency without increasing the overall catheter volume.
3Force
If axially extending channels are added to provide alternate fluid pathways, then push forces are reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter structure is segmented into multiple lumens with distinct functions. The side lumens are strategically positioned and sized to provide adequate fluid flow pathways without excessive complexity. Each lumen is optimized for its specific role, balancing the reduction of push forces with manageable structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The side lumens serve multiple functions: they provide fluid flow pathways, reduce pressure gradients, and maintain catheter structural integrity. This multi-functionality allows the additional channels to reduce push forces while minimizing the increase in overall device complexity through efficient design.
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 design enhances the efficiency of prosthetic medical device implantation by reducing push forces and maintaining hemostasis, ensuring smoother navigation and better implantation of prosthetic devices like transcatheter heart valves.
Implementation Method 1
one or more axially extending channels that are fluidly coupled with the main lumen and provide a pathway for fluid to flow around a delivery apparatus being navigated through the main lumen
Implementation Method 2
increased push forces due to friction and vacuum creation
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods for providing a pathway for fluid to flow around a main lumen of a guide catheter are disclosed. As one example, a delivery apparatus can include a handle including an outer housing and a flush port coupled to the outer housing, a shaft extending distally from the handle, and a main lumen extending axially through the shaft, where the main lumen is fluidly coupled to the flush port via a flush lumen extending between the flush port and the main lumen. The delivery apparatus can further include at least one axially extending channel fluidly coupled to and radially offset from the main lumen, the channel extending between a first location that is adjacent to the flush lumen and a second location that is adjacent to a distal end of the shaft.