Pressure Guide Wire Sensor Mounting and Flexibility

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current pressure measurement techniques for non-vascular systems, such as urinary, digestive, and reproductive systems, suffer from low accuracy and complexity in design and processing, leading to potential harm due to poor sensitivity and interference factors during minimally invasive surgeries.

Innovation Solution

A pressure guide wire with a pressure sensor fixed in the groove of an intermediate ring, allowing direct contact with the body's lumen, and sensing wires wrapped by a heat shrink tube without adhesive, ensuring flexibility and durability, and a smooth outer surface to prevent organ damage.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If a pressure sensor is installed inside a hollow mandrel with a large opening to avoid direct contact with the vessel wall, then the guide wire structure is simplified, but the measurement accuracy is greatly affected by the position and size of the opening

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveguide wire structure simplicityVSAvoidpressure measurement accuracy
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The pressure sensor is extracted from the hollow mandrel structure and directly mounted on the solid guide wire surface. This eliminates the opening in the mandrel that caused measurement inaccuracies, while the solid wire structure provides a stable mounting base for the sensor.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The guide wire structure is modified locally at the sensor mounting position to accommodate the pressure sensor directly on the wire surface. This localized modification maintains overall structural simplicity while achieving accurate pressure measurement through direct sensor placement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

2Measurement precision

If adhesive is used to fix the flexible film with pressure sensors to the mandrel, then the sensor positioning is improved, but the guide wire flexibility is greatly affected and cracking and separation may occur during bending

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesensor positioning accuracyVSAvoidguide wire flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
Measurement precisionVSStability of the object's composition

Solution Approach 1:

The adhesive layer is completely removed from the structure. Instead of using adhesive to mount the pressure sensor, the sensor is directly fixed to the mandrel surface through mechanical means such as rivets or welding, eliminating the flexibility problems caused by adhesive layers.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The mounting structure is designed to accommodate the curved surface of the cylindrical mandrel. The pressure sensor is mounted in a way that follows the mandrel's curvature, allowing the guide wire to bend naturally without creating stress concentrations that would cause cracking.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #14Spheroidality (Curvature)

3Stability of the object's composition

If multiple pressure sensors are wrapped around the mandrel in a spiral manner, then flexibility is improved, but gaps are easily formed between sensors causing uneven surface and potential damage to inner wall

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveguide wire flexibilityVSAvoidinner wall damage risk
Core Design Contradiction:
Stability of the object's compositionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of using a continuous spiral flexible film that creates gaps, the guide wire surface is segmented with multiple discrete pressure sensors positioned at specific locations. Each sensor is independently mounted, eliminating the gap formation problem while maintaining flexibility through the distributed sensor arrangement.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The guide wire surface is coated with a smooth, uniform protective layer that covers the mounted sensors. This coating creates an even outer surface that prevents damage to the inner wall during insertion, while the sensors remain functional beneath the smooth coating.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #32Color changes

4Device complexity

If in vitro pressure measurement is used with hoses and external sensors, then the measurement system is simple to implement, but sensitivity is poor and measurement results are unstable due to micro-bubbles, jitter, and debris clogging

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemeasurement system simplicityVSAvoidpressure measurement stability
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSMeasurement precision

Solution Approach 1:

The pressure sensor acts as an intermediary element that is directly placed in contact with the body lumen. This eliminates the need for long hoses and external connections that are prone to clogging and jitter, providing stable and sensitive pressure measurement while maintaining relative system simplicity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

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

Enables accurate and real-time pressure monitoring with improved flexibility and durability, reducing the risk of organ damage and enhancing safety during surgeries.

Implementation Method 1

a proximal-end protective sleeve (3) wrapping the proximal end portion of the mandrel (4)... The plurality of sensing wires (51) is wrapped by the proximal-end protective sleeve (3), and there is no adhesive between the proximal-end protective sleeve (3) and the mandrel (4)

Methodology Applied
Scientific EffectHeat shrinkage: Thermal Contraction

Data Source

PatentEP3673946B1Pressure guide wire
Publication Date: 2022.10.19 INNOVEX MEDICAL CO LTD
  • EP3673946B1 patent drawingFigure 1~3
  • EP3673946B1 patent drawingFigure 4~6

AI summary

The invention relates to a pressure guide wire which comprises an insertion portion and an operation portion(6), wherein the insertion portion comprises a mandrel (4), a distal-end protective sleeve (1) wrapping the distal end portion of the mandrel (4), a proximal-end protective sleeve (3) wrapping the proximal end portion of the mandrel (4), an intermediate ring (2) disposed between the distal-end protective sleeve (1) and the proximal-end protective sleeve (3),which is fixedly sleeved on the mandrel (4) and the outer surface of which is provided with a groove (2), and a pressure sensor (5) disposed in the groove (21) of the intermediate ring (2) and connected with a plurality of sensing wires (51), which extends between the proximal-end protective sleeve (3) and the mandrel (4) and the other end of which is connected to the operation portion (6). The operation portion (6) is used to transmit signals of the sensor (5) to an external display device (7). The pressure guide wire can monitor the pressure change in the lumen accurately and in real time, and the sensing wires (51) is wrapped by the proximal-end protective sleeve (3), so that the guide wire is good in flexibility and the durability, and the pressure guide wire has a smooth outer wall and is excellent in safety.