Pivotable Anchor Assembly for Medical Device Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stabilizing elements for medical devices, such as catheters, are prone to breakage or degradation due to exposure to drainage fluids and acidic environments, leading to inadequate anchoring and increased delivery profiles through body lumens, which compromises their effectiveness in immobilizing catheters against body walls.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with an anchor assembly featuring a pivotable anchor and biocompatible filament, where the anchor is removably disposed within a recessed channel and pivots from a longitudinal to a perpendicular orientation upon tensile force application, engaging against a body wall to secure the device, while the filament is protected within the lumen to prevent exposure and degradation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional stabilizing elements (sutures, pigtail loops) are used to anchor catheters, then anchoring function is provided, but the elements are prone to breakage and degradation due to exposure to drainage fluids and acidic environments
Solution Approach 1:
The filament is extracted from the external environment and placed inside the lumen of the catheter body, isolating it from drainage fluids and acidic environments. This extraction eliminates the degradation pathway while preserving the anchoring function through the anchor mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter body structure serves as an intermediary protective barrier between the filament and the harsh external environment. The lumen acts as a protective conduit, allowing the filament to function without direct exposure to degrading substances.
2Reliability
If conventional stabilizing elements are used to anchor catheters, then anchoring function is provided, but the delivery profile increases making delivery through narrow body lumens problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The anchor is designed to be movable between a low-profile configuration (during delivery) and an expanded anchoring configuration (at deployment site). This dynamic transformation allows the device to navigate narrow lumens while providing robust anchoring when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The anchor is nested within or alongside the catheter body during delivery, minimizing the overall profile. The anchor can be deployed outward from the catheter body at the target site, providing anchoring function without increasing the delivery profile.
Data Source
AI summary
An anchor assembly is used with a medical device to engage the medical device against a body wall. The anchor assembly includes a pivotable anchor and a filament. The anchor is seated in a longitudinal orientation within a recessed channel located at the distal end of the medical device. Pulling on a proximal free end of the filament causes the anchor to pivot from a longitudinal orientation to a perpendicular orientation. The anchor in the perpendicular orientation engages against a body wall to immobilize the medical device.