Nested Catheter Assembly for Reduced Tissue Trauma
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Solution Overview
Problem
Convection enhanced delivery (CED) of bioactive agents into tissues, such as cerebral tissue, requires multiple catheters with small outside diameters to minimize hemorrhage and trauma, but existing catheter designs do not effectively manage the insertion and deployment of peripheral catheters within the central catheter to prevent interference and ensure efficient delivery.
Innovation Solution
A catheter assembly comprising a central catheter with radially outwardly disposed peripheral catheters, where the central catheter can extend to cover the peripheral catheters during insertion, allowing for a smaller tissue entry point and subsequent deployment of the peripheral catheters in a radial array for effective bioactive agent delivery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple catheters are inserted into tissue to enable convection enhanced delivery, then bioactive agent delivery efficiency is improved, but tissue trauma and hemorrhage risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by placing peripheral catheters inside the central catheter during insertion. The central catheter acts as a sheath that contains the peripheral catheters in a collapsed or nested state during insertion through the tissue, minimizing the number of separate puncture sites required and reducing tissue trauma. Once positioned, the peripheral catheters are deployed radially outward from the central catheter to multiple injection sites, enabling efficient multi-point bioactive agent delivery through a single primary insertion path.
2Productivity
If peripheral catheters are deployed radially from central catheter, then bioactive agent distribution is improved, but catheter insertion complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-assembling the peripheral catheters in a nested configuration within the central catheter before insertion. The peripheral catheters are pre-positioned and constrained within the central catheter's lumen or grooves, allowing them to be inserted as a unified assembly through a single tissue puncture. This pre-configuration simplifies the insertion process compared to inserting multiple separate catheters, while still enabling radial deployment to multiple sites once the assembly is positioned in the target tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter system employs dynamic transformation from a collapsed nested state during insertion to an expanded radial configuration during operation. The peripheral catheters transition from being contained within the central catheter to deploying outward at various angles, allowing the system to adapt its geometry from a compact insertion profile to a functional radial array for multi-point delivery. This dynamic reconfiguration enables efficient distribution of bioactive agents to multiple locations while maintaining simple insertion procedures.
Data Source
Figure 1~1B
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AI summary
A catheter apparatus (400) comprising a first catheter (412) including a wall (416) with an inner surface (418) at least partially defining a lumen (422), a first portion (419) of the wall of the first catheter being made of a relatively low durometer elastomeric material and being relatively extensible, a second portion (421) of the wall being formed of a relatively high durometer elastomeric material and being relatively inextensible; a second catheter (414) connected to the wall of the first catheter and disposed outward of the inner surface of the wall, the second catheter being at least partially covered by a sheath portion of the first catheter; and a control mechanism (464) to engage a stylet (478) when disposed in the lumen and to control relative movement between the stylet and the first portion of the wall and consequent extension of the first portion of the wall.