Retractable Mapping Sleeve for Catheter Integration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices require separate mapping and ablation tools, increasing procedure time, complexity, and cost, while combination devices are expensive and complicated to manufacture, posing risks of patient injury and insulation issues.
Innovation Solution
A cost-effective medical device accessory with a resilient sleeve and mapping electrodes that integrates mapping and ablation functionality, allowing for simultaneous use by retracting the mapping sleeve to expose the ablation element, using a retraction element and electrode wires for efficient tissue identification and treatment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If separate mapping and ablation devices are used, then device complexity and manufacturing cost are reduced, but procedure time increases and patient risk increases due to device replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines mapping electrodes and ablation elements into a single integrated catheter device, eliminating the need for separate mapping and ablation devices. This merging allows both functions to be performed in one device, reducing procedure time by eliminating device replacement and minimizing patient exposure to multiple interventions.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter device is designed with multi-functionality, serving both as a mapping device with electrodes for electrical signal detection and as an ablation device with elements for tissue modification. This universal design allows the single device to perform multiple functions that previously required separate specialized devices.
2Productivity
If combination mapping and ablation devices are used, then procedure time is reduced, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into distinct functional modules: mapping electrodes positioned at specific locations for electrical signal detection, ablation elements for tissue modification, and insulating structures to prevent unwanted electrical interaction. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently while maintaining overall device integration.
Solution Approach 2:
Insulating structures serve as intermediaries between the mapping electrodes and ablation elements, preventing unwanted electrical coupling while allowing both functions to coexist in the same device. This mediator approach enables the integration of conflicting functions by providing physical and electrical separation where needed.
3Measurement precision
If mapping and ablation functionality are integrated in a single device, then ablation accuracy is enhanced, but insulation problems arise between mapping and ablation electrodes
Solution Approach 1:
Insulating structures are positioned between mapping electrodes and ablation elements to prevent unwanted electrical coupling. These intermediaries ensure that mapping signals are not interfered with by ablation currents and that ablation energy is directed only at the intended target tissue, maintaining both mapping accuracy and ablation precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs local quality by providing insulation only where needed between specific electrode pairs, rather than insulating the entire device. This targeted approach maintains electrical connectivity where required for function while providing isolation where needed to prevent interference, reducing overall insulation complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An accessory and system to provide a medical device with mapping and ablation functionality. The system may include an ablation device with a handle, a treatment element, and an elongate body. The ablation element may be located on the elongate body distal portion, and a mapping sleeve may be disposable about at least part of the distal portion of the ablation device and may include mapping electrodes disposed on the outer surface. The mapping sleeve proximal region may include a retraction element defining a proximal end and a distal end, the distal end being coupled to the proximal region of the mapping sleeve, such that retracting the retraction element toward the elongate body proximal portion pulls the mapping sleeve away from the treatment element of the ablation device.