Visible Marker Catheters for Soaker Region Positioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional catheters lack visible markers to easily identify the location of fluid openings for infusion and drainage, making it difficult for medical personnel to position them accurately, particularly in smaller diameter catheters like microcatheters.
Innovation Solution
The catheter is equipped with visible markers, such as tubes or collars, secured to the outer surface and optionally a filament within the lumen, using heat-shrink technology to distinguish the proximal and distal sections, with the distal section containing fluid openings, allowing easy identification of the soaker region.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional catheters without visible markers are used, then the device structure remains simple, but medical personnel cannot easily identify the location of fluid openings for accurate positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color-coded visible markers (e.g., colored rings, bands, or coatings) on the catheter body to indicate different functional regions. Specifically, the marker color changes or is positioned to distinguish the soaker region containing fluid openings from other sections, enabling medical personnel to quickly identify the correct placement zone without complex structural modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces visible markers as intermediary elements that mediate between the catheter structure and medical personnel's visual detection. These markers serve as visual mediators that translate the invisible or hard-to-detect fluid opening locations into clearly visible indicators, solving the identification problem without altering the catheter's core functional structure.
2Ease of operation
If visible markers are added to the catheter, then medical personnel can easily identify the soaker region, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the catheter into distinct functional regions marked by visible indicators. The soaker region is specifically segmented and highlighted with markers, allowing manufacturers to apply markers to specific zones rather than the entire catheter, simplifying the manufacturing process while maintaining ease of identification during use.
Solution Approach 2:
The visible markers are incorporated into the catheter during the manufacturing process itself, rather than being added separately after production. This preliminary action of integrating markers into the manufacturing workflow eliminates additional post-processing steps, maintaining manufacturing efficiency while providing clear visual identification for medical personnel.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the catheter diameter is reduced for minimally invasive procedures, then patient trauma is minimized, but the visibility of fluid opening locations becomes even more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs high-contrast color changes and brightly colored markers on small-diameter catheters to compensate for reduced visibility. The markers use vivid colors and high contrast ratios that remain clearly visible even on thin catheter bodies, enabling medical personnel to easily identify the soaker region despite the minimally invasive small diameter design.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes visual parameters such as marker brightness, contrast, and relative size to maintain detectability on small-diameter catheters. By adjusting these visual parameters, the markers remain sufficiently large and conspicuous on thin catheters to be easily detected, solving the visibility problem without increasing the catheter diameter and thus avoiding increased patient trauma.
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
Medical personnel can immediately identify the section of the catheter with fluid openings, facilitating precise placement and use during infusion and drainage procedures.
Implementation Method 1
using heat-shrink technology to distinguish the proximal and distal sections
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter for delivering fluids includes a hollow tube having a proximal section, a distal section, and an elongated lumen that extends through the proximal and distal sections of the hollow tube. One or more fluid openings are formed in the distal section of the hollow tube, which are in fluid communication with the elongated lumen of the hollow tube. A visible marker collar is secured to an outer surface of the hollow tube and is located at a junction of the proximal and distal sections of the hollow tube. A visible marker filament is disposed within the elongated lumen of the hollow tube and extends between the junction of the proximal and distal sections of the hollow tube and a distal end of the hollow tube. The visible markers are used to identify a soaker region of the catheter used to infuse fluids or drain fluids from a patient.