RF-Energized Guidewire Tunneling Through Non-Vascular Tissue
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Solution Overview
Problem
Guidewires are limited in the type and amount of tissue they can advance through, restricting the placement of additional medical instruments in non-vascular tissue, thereby limiting access to difficult-to-reach areas.
Innovation Solution
Guidewires configured with an RF-energizable tip and steerable by external magnets and directional fibers, allowing tunneling through non-vascular tissues such as connective, adipose, and muscle tissues, forming passageways for stent grafts and catheters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional guidewires are used, then they can advance through vasculature, but they cannot tunnel through non-vascular tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The guidewire incorporates RF energization capability, changing the physical state and interaction parameters of the wire tip with tissue. This allows the guidewire to tunnel through non-vascular tissue by utilizing RF energy to facilitate tissue penetration while maintaining control and stability during advancement.
2Adaptability or versatility
If guidewires are advanced through dense non-vascular tissue, then access to difficult-to-reach areas is achieved, but tissue damage and harm to adjacent vessels may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The system incorporates feedback mechanisms that monitor tissue interaction forces and RF energy delivery in real-time. This feedback allows the operator to adjust advancement speed, RF power level, and wire position to tunnel through dense tissue while preventing excessive tissue damage and protecting adjacent vessels from harm.
Solution Approach 2:
The RF energization is applied in controlled periodic pulses rather than continuous manner, allowing the guidewire to progressively tunnel through dense tissue while giving surrounding tissues time to recover and preventing cumulative thermal damage to adjacent structures.
3Speed
If the guidewire tip is made more aggressive for tunneling, then penetration through dense tissue improves, but control and maneuverability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The guidewire incorporates steerable elements such as directional fibers or magnetic steering components that allow dynamic adjustment of the wire trajectory. This enables the operator to maintain control and maneuverability while the RF-energized tip achieves effective tunneling through dense tissue, resolving the contradiction between aggressive penetration and ease of operation.
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 precise tunneling through dense tissues, forming stable passageways for medical devices like stent grafts, bypassing occlusions without harming adjacent vessels and facilitating fistula formation between blood vessels.
Implementation Method 1
The guidewire is RF energized
Data Source
AI summary
A guidewire includes a body and a tip. The tip is configured to be energized by an RF generator connectable to the body. The guidewire is configured to tunnel through an internal lumen of a blood vessel, tunnel through a wall of the blood vessel, and tunnel through non-vascular tissue outside of the blood vessel.