Medical Guide Wire Stiffer Sheath Core Flexibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional guide wires for medical instruments face challenges in achieving desired flexibility and stiffness, particularly in MRI-compatible and X-ray applications, with complex manufacturing processes and material compatibility issues.
Innovation Solution
A guide wire design featuring a core and sheath where the sheath is stiffer than the core, allowing for adjustable stiffness and flexibility in different sections, with optional additional components like electrical conductors and filling materials for specific applications, enabling simple production and enhanced compatibility with MRI and X-ray technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the guide wire core is tapered in the distal end section to increase flexibility, then the flexibility of the end section is improved, but the manufacturing complexity increases and production effort increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the stiffness parameter distribution by making the sheath stiffer than the core in the shaft section, eliminating the need for core tapering. This achieves the desired flexibility in the end section while simplifying manufacturing, as the uniform core diameter can be maintained throughout the guide wire length.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of making the core more flexible through tapering, the patent inverts the conventional approach by making the sheath stiffer than the core. This reversal allows the core to maintain a uniform, simpler geometry while still achieving the required flexibility characteristics in the end section.
2Reliability
If the sheath is made softer than the core to protect the core, then the protection function is improved, but the manufacturing simplicity is reduced when trying to achieve desired flexibility in end sections
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the relative stiffness parameters by making the sheath stiffer than the core in the shaft section. This parameter inversion simplifies manufacturing by allowing uniform core geometry while achieving flexibility through the sheath-core stiffness relationship rather than through complex core shaping.
3Adaptability or versatility
If additional components are added to the end section for MRI compatibility and X-ray compatibility, then the functional versatility is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies multi-functionality by designing the core and sheath materials to simultaneously provide mechanical support, flexibility control, and imaging compatibility. The core can be made of MRI-compatible materials while the sheath provides X-ray visibility, allowing a single guide wire structure to serve multiple diagnostic and therapeutic functions without requiring separate specialized components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges multiple functions into the core and sheath structures themselves. Rather than adding separate components for MRI compatibility and X-ray compatibility, these imaging functions are integrated into the material selection and structural design of the core and sheath, reducing overall device complexity while maintaining versatility.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a guide wire for a medical instrument, which has a guide wire core (2) and a sheathing (3) that surrounds the guide wire core at least in sections. According to the invention, the sheathing (3), at least in a shaft section (5) joined to an end section (4), is provided with a rigidity greater than that of the guide wire core. The invention is for use, e.g. in medical instruments for magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) suitable applications.