Vascular Guidewire Controller with SMA Tip Actuation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current vascular guidewires and catheters require frequent exchanges during procedures, which is time-consuming and risky, as they can cause vessel injury or embolic events, and lack a fully variable tip and remote control system for navigating complex vascular anatomy.
Innovation Solution
A compact, coaxial, remotely controllable guidewire with a detachable controller that allows single-handed manipulation and variable tip control, enabling precise navigation through complex anatomy with reduced exchanges and trauma to the vasculature.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If pre-formed guidewires and guide catheters are used to negotiate vascular anatomy, then the physician can access selective areas with greater clarity, but the devices require constant exchange and substitution which is time-consuming and dangerous
Solution Approach 1:
The guidewire tip is made dynamically controllable through shape memory alloy actuators that can change the tip configuration on demand. This allows a single guidewire to adapt its shape to navigate different vascular segments, eliminating the need to exchange multiple pre-formed guidewires with different tip angles during the procedure.
2Adaptability or versatility
If pre-formed guidewires and guide catheters are exchanged frequently, then different vascular segments can be accessed, but vessel injury or embolic events may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The shape memory alloy actuators enable the guidewire tip to dynamically adjust its configuration to access different vascular segments. This eliminates repeated insertion and withdrawal of multiple devices, thereby reducing the risk of vessel injury and embolic events while maintaining the ability to reach various anatomical targets.
3Ease of operation
If direct mechanical linkage is used to control guidewire tip, then the tip can be turned or bent, but the guidewire becomes stiffened and its functionality is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces direct mechanical linkage with shape memory alloy actuators controlled by electrical signals. This substitution allows the guidewire tip to be deflected without imparting stiffening constraints on the guidewire body, preserving its flexibility and ability to navigate complex vascular anatomy while maintaining precise controllability.
4Ease of operation
If shape memory alloys are used to control guidewire tip, then the tip can be deflected by electrical current, but the guidewire structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The shape memory alloy actuators are nested within the guidewire structure, with multiple actuators arranged concentrically about the inner core wire. This nested configuration allows the complex control functionality to be integrated within the guidewire without significantly increasing its external dimensions or complicating its overall structure.
5Measurement precision
If multiple actuators are controlled by electrical connection, then the guidewire tip can be precisely deflected, but conducting wires traveling in parallel increase the guidewire diameter
Solution Approach 1:
The outer wrapped wire serves dual functions: as a structural support layer and as an electrically conductive element for the actuators. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate conducting wires traveling in parallel, thereby reducing the guidewire diameter while maintaining precise electrical control of the shape memory alloy actuators.
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 solution minimizes the number of guidewire exchanges, reduces procedural time and trauma to the vasculature, and enhances control and safety by allowing precise, single-handed manipulation of the guidewire tip, improving ergonomics and compatibility with existing devices.
Implementation Method 1
The actuator is constructed of a shape memory alloy and introduces a deflection in a tip of the guidewire when activated
Implementation Method 2
When a selected switch is actuated, a corresponding one of the plurality of circuit paths is closed to allow a current to flow to, and through, the actuator
Data Source
AI summary
A controller for use with a guidewire, such as a vascular guidewire, provides a mechanism for gripping and applying a torque to the guidewire without the need to thread the guidewire axially through the controller and at a location close to a point of access of the guidewire. In one embodiment, the controller includes a side-access, multi-part assembly including a collet or other gripping element that applies a uniform radially inward force on the guidewire. In another embodiment, for use with guidewires having active electrically controllable elements, the controller integrally or removably incorporates a switch or other mechanism to initiate an energized state. The controller thereby permits ergonomic, single-handed control of an electronically steerable guidewire, including axially displacing, torquing and steering the guidewire.