Removable Catheter Cap for Atraumatic Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical tube delivery methods, such as those using peelable sheaths, can cause vein lacerations and are ineffective for catheters with blunt or soft distal tips, while catheters with sharp tips may injure surrounding tissue, and existing designs limit intubation techniques, leading to delivery failures and patient discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A removable catheter cap with a cap body that is transformable into constituent parts, featuring a guidewire opening and a cap releasing member, allowing for safe passage through the catheter lumen and facilitating easy detachment, is designed to cover the distal tip of catheters, providing atraumatic delivery and reinforcement during insertion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a peelable sheath is used to deliver the catheter, then the catheter can be delivered through the blood vessel, but the sheath may cause vein laceration due to buckling of the guidewire and inadvertent advancement of the dilator portion
Solution Approach 1:
A cap is introduced as an intermediary component between the guidewire and the catheter distal tip during delivery. The cap protects the catheter tip while being delivered over the guidewire and allows controlled manipulation to prevent guidewire buckling and sheath advancement injuries. After delivery, the cap is removed to expose the functional catheter tip.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the catheter distal tip is made blunt and soft to reduce tissue injury, then tissue trauma is minimized, but the catheter cannot be effectively delivered over a guidewire or without a sheath
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery system is segmented into three functional components: the guidewire for navigation, the cap for protection during delivery, and the catheter with blunt tip for safe patient contact. The cap acts as a temporary protective segment that enables guidewire delivery of blunt-tipped catheters, which would otherwise be impossible to deliver effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap serves as an intermediary that allows the blunt-tipped catheter to be delivered over a guidewire. The cap's shape and structure enable it to be pushed over the guidewire while protecting the blunt catheter tip, solving the contradiction between tip softness and deliverability.
3Ease of operation
If the catheter distal tip is made sharp or pointed to improve traversability, then the catheter can be delivered more easily, but surrounding tissue may be injured or punctured
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is attached to the catheter tip before delivery, performing the protective function in advance. This preliminary protection allows the catheter to be delivered with a blunt tip, and the cap prevents any potential tissue injury during the delivery process while maintaining good traversability.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the catheter has only side holes for drainage, then the drainage function is provided, but it may be advantageous to have the distal tip be blunt shaped with a forward opening
Solution Approach 1:
The cap design provides multi-functionality: it protects the catheter tip during delivery, allows the catheter to be delivered over a guidewire, and can be easily removed to reveal the blunt tip with forward opening. This universal solution works for various catheter types and delivery scenarios.
Data Source
AI summary
Removable catheter cap, and applications thereof, for delivering medical tubes in bodily passages. Removable catheter cap covers flexible medical tube (e.g., catheter) distal tip during delivery in a body lumen. Catheter cap includes: cap body removably connectable to, for capping, catheter distal tip, and transformable into a predefined constituent part freely passable through catheter lumen; and cap releasing member extending through catheter proximal end when catheter cap is connected to the catheter, and manipulatable for transforming cap body into constituent part or/and for withdrawing constituent part from catheter distal tip through catheter lumen. Exemplary applications are: provision of a catheter assembly including a catheter and the removable catheter cap connected thereto; a medical kit including one or more catheters and one or more correspondingly configured removable catheter caps; and a method for delivering a catheter in a blood vessel of a subject, for example, via an over-the-wire technique.