IV Catheter Insertion Guide with Ultrasonic Heating and Nerve Stimulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
IV catheter insertion can be painful and frightening for patients due to the insertion process, and existing technologies do not adequately address this issue.
Innovation Solution
An IV catheter insertion guide with upstream and downstream platforms, featuring a heating component to relax tissue, a nerve-stimulating component to reduce pain signals, and a light source for enhanced visibility, simplifies the insertion process by increasing vessel cross-sectional area, reducing pain, and providing better tissue contrast.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional IV catheter insertion is performed without additional components, then the device complexity is low, but the patient experiences pain and discomfort during insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functional components (heating component, nerve stimulation component, light source, and guide surfaces) into a single integrated platform device that is applied to the patient's skin. This merging approach allows the device to simultaneously perform tissue heating, nerve stimulation, illumination, and mechanical guidance, thereby reducing patient pain while maintaining a unified device structure rather than using multiple separate tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The heating component is activated before catheter insertion to pre-heat the tissue and relax the vessel walls, increasing the cross-sectional area of the target vessel. The nerve stimulation component is also activated prior to insertion to block pain signals. These preliminary actions prepare the tissue and nervous system in advance, reducing patient discomfort during the actual insertion procedure.
2Ease of operation
If the vessel cross-sectional area is increased through heating, then the insertion process becomes easier, but additional energy and time are required for tissue heating
Solution Approach 1:
The heating component is designed to heat only the localized tissue area surrounding the target vessel, rather than heating a large region or the entire body. This partial heating approach is sufficient to achieve vessel relaxation and increased cross-sectional area in the specific insertion site, making the insertion easier while minimizing overall energy consumption to what would otherwise be wasted.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If nerve stimulation is applied downstream from the insertion site, then pain signal transmission is reduced, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The nerve stimulation component is integrated into the platform along with the heating component, light source, and guide surfaces. This merging allows the device to simultaneously perform multiple functions including nerve stimulation for pain block, tissue heating for vessel relaxation, illumination for visualization, and mechanical guidance, thereby reducing pain signal transmission while maintaining a unified device structure.
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 guide reduces patient discomfort during catheter insertion by relaxing vessels and minimizing pain signals, making the procedure less painful and more efficient.
Implementation Method 1
The upstream platform may include an ultrasonic transducer or another type of heating component for increasing the temperature of tissue near the insertion site
Implementation Method 2
A downstream platform can also include an ultrasonic transducer for stimulating nerves downstream from the insertion site during the insertion of the catheter
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 2C~2D
AI summary
An IV catheter insertion guide (100) is configured to reduce the pain a patient may experience during catheter insertion. The IV catheter insertion guide (100) includes two platforms (200,300) that can be positioned on opposing sides of the insertion site. An downstream platform (200) includes an ultrasonic transducer or another type of heating component for increasing the temperature of tissue near the insertion site. This heating of the tissue can cause the targeted vessel to relax and increase its cross-sectional area prior to insertion of the catheter. An upstream platform (300) includes an ultrasonic transducer for stimulating nerves downstream from the insertion site during the insertion of the catheter. The stimulation of the downstream nerves may reduce the pain signal that is transmitted to the central nervous system in response to the catheter insertion.