Segmented Coating Strategy for Medical Wire Guide Tactile Feedback

Solution Overview

Problem

Elongated, flexible wire guides face a design challenge where minimizing the force required for advancement through the body's vasculature often compromises tactile feedback, making it difficult for interventionalists to feel wire movement effectively.

Innovation Solution

A method involving a core wire with a fluoropolymer coating on the proximal section for tactile feedback and a hydrophilic coating on the distal section, applied over a polymer coating, which minimizes advancement force while maintaining sufficient tactile sensation by using distinct coatings for different sections of the wire guide.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Force

If a coating is applied to minimize advancement force through the vasculature, then the force required for advancing the wire guide is reduced, but the tactile feedback from moving the wire guide decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveadvancement forceVSAvoidtactile feedback

Core Design Contradiction:

ForceVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The wire guide is divided into multiple sections with different coating properties: a distal section with a first coating that minimizes advancement force, and a proximal section with a second coating that provides tactile feedback. This segmentation allows each section to independently fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different sections of the wire guide are assigned different surface properties tailored to their specific functional requirements. The distal section has a low-friction coating for easy advancement through vasculature, while the proximal section has a higher-friction coating for maintaining tactile feedback during manipulation by the interventionalist.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

2Loss of information

If a fluoropolymer coating is applied to the proximal section for tactile feedback, then tactile sensation is improved, but the advancement force through the distal section increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvetactile feedbackVSAvoidadvancement force

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSForce

Solution Approach 1:

The wire guide is divided into multiple sections with different coating properties: a distal section with a first coating that minimizes advancement force, and a proximal section with a second coating that provides tactile feedback. This segmentation allows each section to independently fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

Different sections of the wire guide are assigned different surface properties tailored to their specific functional requirements. The distal section has a low-friction coating for easy advancement through vasculature, while the proximal section has a higher-friction coating for maintaining tactile feedback during manipulation by the interventionalist.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

3Ease of manufacture

If a single coating is applied to the entire wire guide, then manufacturing simplicity is maintained, but the wire guide cannot simultaneously provide minimal advancement force and sufficient tactile feedback

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecoating application simplicityVSAvoiddual functionality

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The wire guide is divided into multiple sections with different coating properties: a distal section with a first coating that minimizes advancement force, and a proximal section with a second coating that provides tactile feedback. This segmentation allows each section to independently fulfill its specific function without compromising the other.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The wire guide employs a composite coating structure with different materials or surface treatments applied to different sections. The first coating on the distal section and the second coating on the proximal section create a composite structure that combines the benefits of both low-friction and high-tactile-feedback properties in a single device.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #40Composite materials

Data Source

PatentUS9364589B2Method of making a coated wire guide

Publication Date: 2016.06.14 COOK MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES LLC

AI summary

In a method for making a wire guide, a fluoropolymer coating is removed from a distal section of an FP coated core wire to expose a metallic portion. A polymer coating is applied to a proximal section of the FP coated core wire such that the polymer coating overlays at least a portion of the FP coating, and to the distal section of the FP coated core wire including the exposed metal portion. The polymer coating is removed from the FP coating to form the wire guide having a proximal portion with the FP coating and a distal portion with the polymer coating. A hydrophilic coating may be applied to the distal portion over the polymer coating.