RF Energy Delivery Device with Visual Markers for Airway Treatment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current asthma management techniques face challenges in navigating and treating the tortuous anatomy of bronchial passageways, ensuring accurate axial treatment of lung airways due to limited visibility and tissue movement, leading to potential over-treatment or under-treatment of target regions, which increases procedure time and patient discomfort.
Innovation Solution
A radio frequency energy delivery device with an expandable electrode basket and visual markers along a tubular sheath facilitates precise axial treatment by allowing real-time visualization and measurement of tissue length, enabling continuous or intermittent treatment without overlap or gaps, and is designed for navigation through varying bronchial sizes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a radio frequency energy delivery device is used to treat tissue within bronchial passageways, then treatment of airways of varying sizes is enabled, but navigation through tortuous anatomy becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into separate functional components: a flexible shaft for navigation through tortuous bronchial passages, an expandable basket for treatment, and a control element for positioning. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the flexible shaft navigates difficult anatomy while the basket provides stable treatment contact.
Solution Approach 2:
The energy delivery basket is nested within the flexible shaft, allowing the treatment element to be protected during navigation and then deployed at the treatment site. The basket can be expanded from a compact nested state to a full treatment configuration, enabling adaptation to various airway sizes without complicating navigation.
2Productivity
If the energy delivery element is translated along the tissue to treat longer regions, then more tissue can be treated, but portions of target tissue may be over-treated or skipped entirely
Solution Approach 1:
Visual markers are provided on the shaft to give real-time feedback to the operator about the position of the energy delivery element relative to the tissue. This allows precise control during translation to ensure continuous treatment without over-treatment or skipping regions.
Solution Approach 2:
Visual markers in contrasting colors or patterns are disposed along the shaft to indicate the position and orientation of the energy delivery element. These markers provide clear visual feedback that helps the operator maintain accurate positioning and control the treatment progression along the tissue.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device is designed for repeated deployment after navigating through tortuous anatomy, then treatment can be performed multiple times, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The basket is designed to be dynamically expandable and collapsible, allowing it to be compressed for navigation through tortuous anatomy and then expanded for treatment. This dynamic capability enables repeated deployment without permanently increasing device complexity, as the same flexible structure serves both navigation and treatment functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The device uses a segmented design with a flexible shaft and separable basket assembly that can be independently controlled. This segmentation allows the device to be collapsed for navigation and then assembled for treatment, enabling repeated use while keeping the overall structure manageable and not overly complex.
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
The device ensures effective and efficient treatment of lung airways by improving visibility and navigation, reducing procedure time, and minimizing patient discomfort through precise energy delivery and real-time monitoring, thereby enhancing treatment efficacy and safety.
Implementation Method 1
use of a radio frequency (RF) energy delivery device provides one mechanism for treating tissue within the bronchial passageways
Data Source
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Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
An energy delivery device for treating tissue regions in a body conduit, such as a lung airway, may utilize one or more markers, rings, bands, or other visual indicators along an outer surface of the device body. The one or more visual indicators facilitate guidance of the device to effectively and efficiently treat the tissue according to a predetermined axial treatment as well as measure extension of a distal portion of the device, tissue length, and/or treatment length. The predetermined axial treatment may be contiguous, overlapping, or intermittently spaced apart as determined by the marker spacing distance.