Segmented Balloon Catheter Flexibility and Pushability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Balloon catheters face a challenge in balancing the need for stiffness to advance over long distances with the requirement for flexibility to navigate narrow and curved blood vessels without kinking, which can lead to vessel injury and treatment failure.
Innovation Solution
The balloon catheter design features a metal proximal section for stiffness, a second distal section of polyhexamethylene adipamide for moderate flexibility, and a first distal section made of a softer material like polyether block amide (PEBA) for enhanced flexibility, allowing it to adapt to tight turns and prevent kinking, while maintaining the ability to traverse longer distances.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the catheter is made rigid to advance over long distances, then the ability to traverse long distances is improved, but the ability to navigate tight bends and narrow vessels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple sections with different flexibility characteristics. The proximal section (first section) has higher rigidity to provide pushability and torque transmission over long distances, while the distal section (second section) has higher flexibility to navigate tight bends and narrow vessels. This segmentation allows each section to optimize its function independently.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the catheter are assigned different material properties and structural characteristics tailored to their specific functional requirements. The proximal section uses materials and structures optimized for rigidity and pushability, while the distal section uses materials and structures optimized for flexibility and conformability to vessel walls.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the catheter is made soft to navigate narrow blood vessels, then the ability to follow vessel bends is improved, but the ability to transmit torque and advance over distances deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter is divided into multiple sections with different flexibility characteristics. The proximal section (first section) has higher rigidity to provide pushability and torque transmission over long distances, while the distal section (second section) has higher flexibility to navigate tight bends and narrow vessels. This segmentation allows each section to optimize its function independently.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the catheter are assigned different material properties and structural characteristics tailored to their specific functional requirements. The proximal section uses materials and structures optimized for rigidity and pushability, while the distal section uses materials and structures optimized for flexibility and conformability to vessel walls.
3Length of moving object
If the entire catheter is made of metal for rigidity, then the ability to advance over long distances is improved, but the risk of kinking and vessel injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the catheter are assigned different material properties and structural characteristics tailored to their specific functional requirements. The proximal section uses materials and structures optimized for rigidity and pushability, while the distal section uses materials and structures optimized for flexibility and conformability to vessel walls.
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter employs composite construction combining different materials with complementary properties. The proximal section may use metal or rigid polymer for structural support, while the distal section uses flexible polymer materials that conform to vessel walls and resist kinking, creating a composite structure that balances rigidity and flexibility.
Data Source
Figure 1
AI summary
The invention relates to a balloon catheter comprising an outer tube (1) to which distal end a balloon (2) connects that can be expanded by feeding in a fluid via the outer tube (1), wherein an inner tube (3) extends at least partially through the outer tube (1), said inner tube (3) passing through the balloon (2) and terminating distally of the balloon (2), with the inner tube (3) having a lumen appropriate to accommodate a guidewire (6) and the balloon catheter having a distal (a,b) and a proximal section (c), wherein the proximal section (3) of the outer tube (1) is made of metal and the distal section (a,b) consists of plastic material making the distal section (a,b) more flexible than the proximal section (c), and wherein the distal section (a,b) consists of a first distal section (a) and a second distal section (b), said second distal section (b) being located proximal to the first distal section (a), with the first distal section (a) being made so as to be more flexible than the second distal section (b). The balloon catheter proposed by the invention combines in different sections materials of different flexibility which not only results in the catheter to be navigated without difficulty also over longer distances of more than 1 m but enables it as well to readily adapt to narrow-lumened blood vessels in the distal section (a,b).