Laser-Cut Guidewire Tube Geometry for Tight Bending Without Kinking
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional guidewire devices face limitations in achieving a balance between bending flexibility, torsional rigidity, and tensile strength, particularly in reaching tight bending radii without kinking, due to constraints in cutting geometries and processing speed using traditional micro-machining techniques.
Innovation Solution
A guidewire device featuring a tube member with transverse cuts having a tapered geometry, formed by laser cutting, which allows for a desirable balance between bending flexibility, torsional rigidity, and tensile strength, enabling the guidewire to bend at a tighter radius without kinking, achieved through precise laser-cut patterns such as one-beam, two-beam, or three-beam cut configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional micro-machining techniques are used to create transverse cuts in the tube member, then manufacturing precision can be achieved, but processing speed is limited and cutting geometries are constrained
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical micro-machining techniques with laser technology to form transverse cuts in the tube member. This substitution enables faster processing speeds and allows for tapered cutting geometries that are difficult to achieve with conventional mechanical cutting tools, while still maintaining precise control over cut dimensions through laser parameter adjustment.
2Ease of operation
If the guidewire tip is designed to bend at a tight radius, then vessel selection capability is improved, but the risk of kinking increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating transverse cuts with tapered geometry at specific locations along the tube member, concentrating flexibility enhancement where needed. The cuts have a larger width at the outer surface than at the inner surface, creating a gradual transition that allows tight bending at the tip while preventing kinking through the controlled geometry of the cuts throughout the tube structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs asymmetry through the tapered geometry of the transverse cuts, where the cut width varies through the tube wall thickness. This asymmetric cut pattern creates different mechanical properties at the inner and outer surfaces of the tube, enabling the structure to bend tightly without kinking by allowing controlled deformation at the outer surface while maintaining structural integrity at the inner surface.
3Ease of operation
If transverse cuts are made in the tube member to improve flexibility, then bending capability is enhanced, but structural strength may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies parameter changes by controlling the dimensions and geometry of the transverse cuts to optimize the balance between flexibility and strength. The tapered cut geometry, with specific width variations through the tube wall, allows the structure to achieve enhanced bending flexibility while maintaining adequate tensile strength through careful parameter selection and control of the cut characteristics.
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 laser-cut tapered geometry enables the guidewire to achieve a tighter bending radius without kinking, enhancing its performance in navigating complex anatomies while maintaining structural integrity.
Implementation Method 1
forming a plurality of transverse cuts in the tube member at a plurality of axial locations of the tube member to create a plurality of circumferentially extending rings joined by a plurality of beams, wherein the plurality of transverse cuts are formed by using laser to remove more materials at the outer surface than at the inner surface of the tube member
Data Source
AI summary
A guidewire device includes an elongate core wire and a tube member over the distal section of the elongate core wire. The tube member comprises a plurality of transverse cuts at a plurality of axial locations of the tube member, forming a plurality of circumferentially extending rings joined by a plurality of beams. The plurality of transverse cuts comprises a tapered geometry with a cut width at the outer surface of the tube member being greater than a cut width at the inner surface of the tube member.