Nested Coil Wire Guide for Tip Durability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional wire guides face challenges such as tip damage during procedures due to occlusions and sharp turns, leading to difficulties and risks in medical procedures, necessitating an improved design for multiple usable tips.
Innovation Solution
A medical wire guide with a mandril and multiple coils, where one coil is contained within another, allowing for the removal and exposure of a fresh tip when needed, providing customizable properties for different stages of a procedure and reducing the need for replacing the entire device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a traditional wire guide with a single tip is used, then the device structure is simple, but the tip may be permanently damaged during procedures requiring navigation through sharp turns or occlusions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements nesting by placing a first coil with its distal tip inside the inner cavity of a second coil. The second coil acts as a protective outer layer that can be removed to expose the first coil's tip, or the first coil can be removed to access a second tip. This nested configuration allows multiple usable tips within a single wire guide device, resolving the contradiction between tip durability and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire guide is segmented into multiple functional components: a mandril, a first coil with distal tip, a second coil with distal tip, and a cannula. Each coil can be independently removed or engaged, allowing the physician to select different tips based on procedural needs. This segmentation enables the wire guide to maintain reliability through multiple tips while managing complexity through modular design.
2Ease of operation
If the distal tip of the wire guide contacts occlusions or sharp turns during navigation, then the wire guide can traverse complex vascular paths, but the distal tip may be permanently damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The second coil with its distal tip serves as a protective cushion for the first coil's distal tip. During navigation through complex vascular paths, the outer second coil's tip contacts occlusions or sharp turns first, protecting the inner first coil's tip from damage. If the second tip becomes damaged, it can be removed to expose the protected first tip, ensuring continued reliability without compromising navigation capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The second coil acts as an intermediary protective layer between the external environment (occlusions, sharp turns) and the first coil's distal tip. This intermediary structure absorbs the mechanical stress and damage during navigation, preserving the integrity of the inner tip while maintaining the wire guide's ability to traverse complex vascular paths.
3Reliability
If a damaged wire guide tip is encountered during a procedure, then the procedure must be interrupted and a new wire guide inserted, but this increases procedural time and risk of contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide implements dynamic reconfigurability through releasable engagements between the first and second coils and the cannula. When the distal tip becomes damaged, the physician can dynamically reconfigure the device by removing the damaged coil and engaging the next available tip. This dynamic adaptation allows the procedure to continue without interruption, maintaining reliability while minimizing procedural time and contamination risk.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables discarding of the damaged distal tip (first or second coil) while recovering and continuing to use the remaining functional tip. The releasable engagement mechanisms allow selective removal of the damaged component while retaining the wire guide body and the second tip, eliminating the need to discard the entire device and reducing procedural time and contamination risk.
4Adaptability or versatility
If multiple coils are engaged in the wire guide, then multiple usable tips are available, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide achieves multi-functionality by incorporating multiple coils with different properties (flexibility, stiffness, tip geometry) that can be selectively engaged based on procedural requirements. The universal engagement mechanism using interlocking portions and inner cavities allows any coil to be attached to the mandril or another coil, providing adaptability and versatility while managing complexity through standardized interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A medical wire guide may include a mandril having a distal tip, a first coil coupled with the distal tip of the mandril, and a second coil configured to releasably engage with the mandril or the first coil. The second coil comprises a distal tip and defines an inner cavity dimensioned to contain a distal tip of the first coil when the second coil is engaged with the mandril or the first coil.