Multidurometer Catheter Shaft for Vascular Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional microcatheters face challenges in navigating tortuous vascular paths due to risks of vessel puncture, difficulty in making precise turns, and limitations in delivering coils or achieving vascular occlusion, particularly in complex anatomy, with existing methods either risking hemorrhage or being unable to use guidewires with flow-directed microcatheters, and struggling to push guidewire-directed microcatheters through branching vasculature.
Innovation Solution
A flexible catheter system with a compliant distal balloon, marker bands, a multidurometer shaft, and a lubricious coating for improved tracking and navigation, combined with a support coil or braid for torque response, and a hub for device delivery, allowing for precise placement and occlusion without the need for contrast media, using materials like β3 Titanium and PEEK for strength and visualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If a flow-directed microcatheter is used to navigate tortuous vasculature, then the catheter can reach distant vessels, but precise turns and vessel selection become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter shaft is divided into multiple segments with different durometers (stiffness levels). The proximal shaft has higher durometer for pushability, while the distal shaft has lower durometer for flexibility and precise navigation. This segmentation allows the catheter to maintain both reach and steering precision simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter employs a dynamic structure where the shaft stiffness varies along its length, allowing it to adapt to different navigation requirements. The multidurometer construction enables the catheter to be pushed effectively from the proximal end while the distal end remains flexible enough for precise vessel selection and turning.
2Measurement precision
If a guidewire-directed microcatheter is used, then precise vessel selection is possible, but the catheter cannot be pushed through multiple turns in branching intracranial vascularity
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is constructed with multiple segments of varying durometer values. The proximal segment has higher stiffness to enable effective pushing from the groin, while the distal segment has lower stiffness to navigate tortuous paths and branching vasculature. This gradient structure resolves the contradiction between pushability and trackability.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter shaft's physical parameter (durometer/stiffness) is changed progressively along its length. This parameter gradient allows the catheter to transition from a pushable state at the proximal end to a flexible state at the distal end, enabling both effective delivery and navigation through complex vascular anatomy.
3Stability of the object's composition
If a flow-directed microcatheter is used, then the catheter is extremely flexible, but guidewires cannot be used due to risk of puncturing the microcatheter wall
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter wall is segmented into multiple layers with different properties. The outer jacket provides structural support and protection against guidewire-induced punctures, while the inner liner maintains flexibility for flow-directed navigation. This layered structure enables both guidewire use and catheter flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter is constructed as a composite structure with an outer polymeric jacket and an inner liner. The outer jacket provides enhanced mechanical strength and puncture resistance, while the inner liner maintains the flexibility needed for flow-directed navigation. This composite construction resolves the contradiction between flexibility and guidewire compatibility.
4Length of moving object
If a balloon is incorporated into the microcatheter tip to allow blood flow to carry it distally, then the catheter can reach target vessels, but two lumens are required reducing simplicity
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon component is extracted from the microcatheter design, eliminating the need for additional lumens required for balloon inflation. The catheter relies on its multidurometer shaft construction and lubricious coating to achieve smooth delivery and tracking through the vasculature, simplifying the overall device structure to a single lumen configuration.
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
Enhances navigation and retention within small vessels, enables precise placement of devices, and allows for partial or full occlusion without hemorrhagic risks, improving the delivery of therapies and occlusion agents through improved trackability and catheter retention.
Implementation Method 1
a lubricious coating for improved tracking and navigation
Implementation Method 2
marker bands, a multidurometer shaft, and a lubricious coating for improved tracking and navigation
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention include a catheter, comprising: a lumen having a distal end and a proximal end; one or more marker bands circumferentially arranged around the lumen; a support structure extending from the proximal end of the lumen to the most distal marker band; and a top jacket positioned annularly with respect to the lumen, comprising five durometers of material, wherein the support structure and top jacket alternate along the length of the catheter.