Magnetic Catheter Fixation for Stable Percutaneous Heart Pump Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Percutaneous catheters, particularly heart pumps, often shift from their optimal position due to patient movement or pulsatility, leading to reduced efficacy and potential complications such as blood recirculation, blockage, and hemolysis.
Innovation Solution
A magnetic fixation system using a first magnet coupled to the catheter and a second magnet fixed to the patient's skin, creating an attractive force that maintains the catheter's position and orientation, allowing it to assume a preferred angle relative to the patient's anatomy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the catheter is left loose in the patient's body, then it is easy to insert and position, but it moves due to patient movement and heart pulsatility, causing reduced efficacy and complications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical fixation methods (such as sutures, anchors, or physical constraints) with a magnetic field-based fixation system. A magnet is coupled to the catheter, and an external magnetic field applied through the patient's body provides a retarding force that prevents catheter movement without requiring mechanical attachment to surrounding tissues.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic field acts as an intermediary between the catheter and the patient's body, providing a non-contact retarding force. The magnet coupled to the catheter interacts with the external magnetic field, creating a force that opposes catheter movement without direct mechanical contact with tissues.
2Reliability
If the catheter is fixed mechanically to prevent movement, then position stability is improved, but the insertion process becomes more complex and traumatic
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical fixation mechanisms with a simple magnet coupled to the catheter and an external magnetic field. This eliminates the need for sutures, anchors, or other invasive fixation devices, reducing procedural complexity and tissue trauma while maintaining position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The magnetic field serves as a non-invasive intermediary that provides fixation without mechanical contact. The magnet-catheter assembly interacts with the external magnetic field to achieve stable positioning without requiring complex mechanical attachment to surrounding structures.
3Duration of action of moving object
If the catheter remains in the patient for a long period, then long-term therapeutic support is achieved, but the catheter becomes more difficult to maintain in position
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a magnetic field-based retarding force that can be maintained continuously over long periods without degradation. Unlike mechanical fixation that may loosen or cause tissue reaction over time, the magnetic field provides consistent positional stability throughout the duration of catheter placement.
Solution Approach 2:
The external magnetic field acts as a continuous intermediary force that maintains catheter position throughout the entire duration of placement. This non-contact force does not degrade over time and can be easily adjusted or removed as needed, providing reliable long-term position maintenance.
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 magnetic fixation stabilizes the catheter, preventing it from straying from its optimal position, thereby improving therapeutic efficacy by reducing blockages and hemolysis, especially beneficial for long-term procedures.
Implementation Method 1
The first and second magnets exert an attractive magnetic force on each other
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter apparatus can include a first magnet coupled to a catheter and a second magnet configured to couple to a patient's skin. When the catheter and the first magnet are positioned within a patient's body, the second magnet can exert a magnetic force on the first magnet that stabilizes the catheter relative to the second magnet. The second magnet can be directly attached to the patient's skin or secondary devices such as straps can be used to place the second magnet in a fixed position relative to the patient's body. In some implementations, a plurality of magnets can facilitate holding the catheter in a substantially fixed position within the patient.