Segmented Guide Wire with Flexible Spring Section
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional guide wires for feeding tubes are prone to puncturing and kinking, especially at small bending radii, which complicates navigation and increases the risk of esophageal injury during insertion and retraction.
Innovation Solution
A guide wire design featuring a 5 cm long, more flexible section made of a flat wire helical spring wound under pretension, which reduces the risk of puncturing and allows for self-realignment during navigation, combined with a mechanically weakened section proximally wound in a single layer of flat wire to absorb greater tensile forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a conventional solid or stranded guide wire is used, then the guide wire provides sufficient structural support, but it raises the risk of puncturing the tube at deflections with small radius or kinks during advancement
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire is divided into sections with different properties: a distal highly flexible section (5-10 cm) made of finer wire or strand that can navigate small radius deflections without puncturing, and a proximal more rigid section that provides structural support. This local differentiation allows each section to perform its specific function optimally.
Solution Approach 2:
The guide wire is segmented into multiple sections with varying flexibility and strength characteristics. The distal section uses finer wire or strand construction for flexibility, while the proximal section uses thicker wire for strength, creating a gradient structure that transitions from flexible to rigid along the length.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a highly flexible distal section is added to reduce puncture risk, then the risk of kinking in the probe tube is reduced, but the section cannot provide a correcting, counteracting straightening moment
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire incorporates a dynamic balance between flexibility and rigidity through its segmented structure. The distal flexible section can dynamically adapt to tube deflections and kinks, while the proximal rigid section provides the necessary straightening moment to correct severe deformations and maintain proper positioning.
3Ease of operation
If a continuous round wire helical spring guide wire is used, then flexibility is improved, but the introduction of tensile force leads to spring elongation that is no longer adequately reduced when the probe is advanced far
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire uses different wire constructions in different sections: the distal flexible section can be made of finer wire or strand for ease of navigation, while the proximal section uses thicker, more stable wire that resists elongation under tensile force, providing a stable anchor point.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the guide wire is made thinner to reduce puncture risk, then the risk of tube puncture is reduced, but the guide wire loses its ability to provide adequate reinforcement
Solution Approach 1:
The guide wire is segmented into a distal thin section for safe navigation through small radius deflections and a proximal thicker section that provides adequate reinforcement and structural support. The transition between sections creates a gradient that balances safety and functionality.
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 flexible section reduces the risk of tube puncture and facilitates trouble-free navigation by dissipating forces and allowing the guide wire to realign, while the tensile section enables easy retrieval of the probe without permanent deformation.
Implementation Method 1
a 5 cm long, more flexible section made of a flat wire helical spring wound under pretension, which reduces the risk of puncturing and allows for self-realignment during navigation
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5
AI summary
The invention relates to a guide wire (13) which is provided with radial play for use as reinforcement in a soft probe tube (11), and which has behind an insertion aid (15) first a more flexible portion (17), before it is adjoined by the conventional guide wire (13). In that portion (17), the insertion aid (15) and the guide wire (13) grip coaxially into oppositely located ends of a tubular annular spring, in particular a flat wire coil spring (19/19a) wound on a block.