Collapsible Imaging Hood Balloon for Cardiac Ablation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional imaging modalities for visualizing tissue regions within body lumens, such as the heart, face challenges due to opaque bodily fluids like blood, which obstruct clear imaging and limit the ability to perform therapeutic procedures effectively, especially under dynamic conditions like a beating heart.
Innovation Solution
A tissue imaging and manipulation apparatus featuring a deployable imaging hood with a fluid delivery system that displaces blood with transparent fluid, allowing for real-time visualization and enabling bipolar electrode ablation for precise tissue treatment while minimizing tissue displacement and maintaining clear imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Area of stationary object
If an inflatable balloon is used for imaging, then a working area is created, but the balloon displaces surrounding tissue and interferes with fine positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The imaging balloon is made collapsible to allow dynamic adjustment between an inflated state for creating a working area and a collapsed state for fine positioning. The balloon can be collapsed along its longitudinal axis to reduce its profile for navigation and then inflated at the target site to create the working area for imaging and ablation procedures
2Area of stationary object
If an inflatable balloon is used for imaging, then a working area is created, but the working area is cramped and limited in size
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon is designed to expand in multiple dimensions to create a spacious working area. By inflating the balloon radially and longitudinally, a three-dimensional working space is created that accommodates imaging elements and allows instrument manipulation, transforming the limited catheter profile into an expanded working environment
3Difficulty of detecting and measuring
If an inflatable balloon is used for imaging, then imaging is enabled, but pressure changes during heart cycles affect balloon volume and positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates pressure sensors that detect pressure changes during cardiac cycles and provide feedback to a control system. The control system adjusts balloon inflation pressure in real-time to compensate for pressure variations, maintaining constant balloon volume and stable positioning despite changes in intracardiac pressure
4Ease of operation
If an imaging balloon is not firmly pressed against the tissue surface, then positioning is easier, but poor or blurred tissue images are produced
Solution Approach 1:
The system changes the optical parameters of the imaging medium by filling the balloon with a transparent fluid that has different refractive index properties than blood. This fluid displacement creates an optically clear pathway between the imaging elements and tissue surface, allowing for sharp imaging without requiring firm contact, thereby maintaining ease of positioning while improving image quality
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
Enables clear, real-time imaging and precise therapeutic interventions within body lumens filled with opaque fluids, facilitating procedures like arrhythmia treatment and valve interventions with improved accuracy and reduced tissue trauma.
Implementation Method 1
a barrier or membrane extendable from the catheter body to localize, between the visualization element and the field of view, displacement of blood by transparent fluid
Implementation Method 2
the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for the delivery of ablation energy, such as radio-frequency (RF) ablation, to an underlying target tissue utilizing a bipolar electrode configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Visualization and ablation system variations are described which utilize various tissue ablation arrangements. Such assemblies are configured to facilitate the application of bipolar energy delivery, such as RF ablation, to an underlying target tissue for treatment in a controlled manner while directly visualizing the tissue during the bipolar ablation process.