Rotating Guidewire and Foldable Microcatheter for Clot Navigation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical guidewires and microcatheters face challenges in navigating complex blood vessels, such as those that are bent, looped, or bifurcated, leading to prolonged navigation times that can affect the clinical effectiveness of interventions for conditions like blood clots and aneurysms.
Innovation Solution
A guide wire with a curved distal tip and a coil mechanism that rotates upon linear shaft compression, combined with a braided microcatheter that axially folds upon trigger mechanism activation, allowing for efficient navigation and clot capture.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If a conventional straight guide wire is used, then the structure is simple, but the navigation time through complex blood vessels becomes excessively long
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire incorporates a coil section that can dynamically change its configuration. When compressed by the shaft, the coil collapses and rotates the distal tip; when released, it expands to its original shape. This dynamic transformation allows the guide wire to adapt its geometry for navigating complex vessels while maintaining simplicity in its basic structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide wire is divided into distinct functional segments: a straight shaft portion for insertion, a coiled intermediate section for rotation and navigation, and a curved distal tip for reaching difficult locations. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function efficiently, reducing overall navigation time without requiring complete structural complexity.
2Ease of operation
If the guide wire shaft is moved linearly to compress the coil, then the distal tip rotates to navigate complex vessels, but the mechanism becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The coil section is designed to automatically rotate the distal tip when compressed by the shaft. The mechanism uses the compression force itself to drive the rotation, eliminating the need for separate rotation actuators or complex control systems. The coil's geometry and its interaction with the shaft create self-contained rotational motion.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex electronic or motorized rotation mechanisms with a purely mechanical coil-compression system. The linear compression of the coil by the shaft directly translates into rotational motion of the distal tip through the coil's elastic deformation, substituting sophisticated mechanical systems with simpler elastic mechanics.
3Productivity
If the microcatheter uses a braided distal portion that axially folds, then clot capture is enabled, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The microcatheter's distal portion is designed as a dynamic braid structure that can transition between an unfolded state for insertion and a folded state for clot capture. The braided configuration allows the distal tip to collapse axially when compressed, creating a confusable structure that can entangle and capture clots, while remaining simple enough for efficient insertion.
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
Facilitates rapid navigation through complex blood vessels and enables efficient removal of blood clots and treatment of aneurysms by reducing navigation time and enhancing the speed of clinical interventions.
Implementation Method 1
moving the shaft linearly toward the coil compresses the coil and rotates the distal tip
Implementation Method 2
a coil affixedly covering a portion of the wire proximal to the distal tip and distal to the shaft, wherein moving the shaft linearly toward the coil compresses the coil and rotates the distal tip
Implementation Method 3
a braided distal portion that is foldable axially
Implementation Method 4
the guide wire inside the microcatheter and comprising a wire having at a distal end a mechanism configured to actuate an axial folding of the braided distal portion of the microcatheter
Data Source
AI summary
A medical guide wire for improved blood vessel navigation (i.e., to a blood clot, aneurism or hemorrhagic stroke) includes a wire having a curved distal tip, a shaft covering at last part of the wire, and a coil affixedly covering a portion of the wire proximal to the distal tip and distal to the shaft. Moving the shaft linearly toward the coil compresses the coil and rotates the distal tip. A microcatheter includes a tube having a braided distal portion that is foldable axially. The braided distal portion may comprise a mixture of thicker and thinner strands. When a mechanism triggers the folding, the braided portion's outer diameter increases. The mechanism may be an actuator on the guide wire, which when pulled, exerts axial pressure (directly or indirectly) against a braided portion's distal end. A blood clot nearby may be caught and the microcatheter removed with the blood clot.