Origami Bellows Lateral Support for Flexible Catheter Buckling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing minimally invasive medical systems lack effective support for flexible interventional instruments, leading to undesirable deformation such as buckling when inserted into patient anatomy, which can damage internal components like optical fiber shape sensors or endoscopic equipment.
Innovation Solution
A deployable origami bellows apparatus that provides lateral support to flexible elongate devices by axially compressing and expanding, maintaining a fixed inner diameter to prevent buckling, and is formed from a single monolithic material with monostable and bistable layers for actuation and support.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If flexible interventional instruments are inserted into patient anatomy without external support, then maneuverability through the body is improved, but the instruments bend, twist, or buckle in undesirable manners causing deformation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an instrument guiding apparatus as an intermediary structure between the operator and the flexible instrument. This apparatus includes a deployable bellows that provides lateral support to the instrument during insertion, preventing buckling while allowing the instrument to maintain its flexibility for navigation through anatomical passageways.
Solution Approach 2:
The instrument guiding apparatus transitions from a compressed storage state to an expanded deployed state during instrument insertion. The deployable bellows expands axially to provide support, then compresses back as the instrument is inserted, allowing dynamic adaptation to the procedural needs while maintaining instrument stability when required.
2Productivity
If force is exerted to insert the flexible instrument into the patient's anatomy, then insertion is achieved, but the instrument buckles at points external to the patient's body
Solution Approach 1:
The deployable bellows is positioned and expanded before instrument insertion to provide preemptive lateral support. This preliminary anti-action counteracts the compressive forces that would otherwise cause buckling during insertion, allowing force to be applied for insertion without resulting in external deformation of the instrument.
3Ease of operation
If the flexible instrument is unsupported during manipulation, then ease of manipulation is improved, but internal components such as optical fiber shape sensors or endoscopic equipment are damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The instrument guiding apparatus serves as a protective intermediary structure that shields the flexible instrument from external forces during manipulation. The deployable bellows provides a rigid guide pathway that prevents buckling and twisting, thereby protecting internal components like optical fiber shape sensors and endoscopic equipment from damage while allowing the instrument to be manipulated.
4Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid support structure is used to prevent buckling, then instrument stability is improved, but the structure cannot be easily stored or transported
Solution Approach 1:
The deployable bellows is designed to transition between compressed and expanded states. During storage and transport, it remains in a compact compressed state within the instrument guiding apparatus. When needed, it expands axially to provide rigid lateral support for instrument insertion, then compresses back for easy storage, combining stability during use with simplicity during storage.
Solution Approach 2:
The deployable bellows is nested within the instrument guiding apparatus in a compressed state. When deployed, it extends outward to provide support structure. This nesting arrangement allows the rigid support structure to be contained within a compact form factor, eliminating the need for separate storage of large rigid components.
Data Source
AI summary
An origami bellows includes a plurality of layers including a support layer having a diameter that remains fixed irrespective of axial expansion or compression of the origami bellows. The origami bellows may be used as an anti-buckling device providing lateral support to a catheter or other elongated medical instrument.