Self-Expanding Wire Guide Anchoring for Slippage Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Navigation of wire guides through tortuous body lumens with impediments is challenging due to slippage issues, which increases procedure time and patient trauma.
Innovation Solution
A self-expanding wire guide system with an elongate member and an expandable anchoring portion that self-expands to engage the body lumen walls, reducing slippage and providing a stable pathway for medical devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a wire guide is advanced through a tortuous body lumen with impediments, then the wire guide can reach the target site, but the wire guide may slip from the target site when other devices are advanced or retracted over it
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide incorporates an expandable anchoring portion that can dynamically change from a compressed delivery configuration to an expanded anchored configuration. This dynamic transformation allows the wire guide to adapt its structure based on operational needs, providing anchoring stability only when required at the target site while maintaining simplicity during delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire guide is divided into distinct functional segments: an elongate member for navigation, an expandable anchoring portion with multiple expandable members for securing, and a sheathing member for delivery. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently, resolving the contradiction by enabling complex anchoring functionality without requiring the entire wire guide structure to be complex throughout.
2Ease of operation
If the wire guide structure is simplified for easy navigation, then the wire guide can be easily advanced through the body lumen, but it cannot effectively anchor within the body lumen to prevent slippage
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable anchoring portion is nested within the sheathing member during delivery, creating a compact structure that is easy to advance through the body lumen. Upon deployment, the anchoring portion expands outward from the nested state, transforming from a simple delivery profile to a complex anchored structure that provides reliable anchoring capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire guide transitions from a simple, flexible delivery configuration to a complex, anchored configuration through the expansion of the anchoring portion. This dynamic change allows the wire guide to maintain ease of navigation during delivery while achieving reliable anchoring at the target site when needed.
3Loss of time
If the wire guide remains in position at the target site, then procedure time is reduced and patient trauma is minimized, but the wire guide requires a more complex structure to prevent slippage
Solution Approach 1:
The expandable anchoring portion is prepared in advance within the sheathing member, ready for rapid deployment upon reaching the target site. This preliminary preparation allows the anchoring function to be activated quickly when needed, reducing procedure time while maintaining structural simplicity during the majority of the delivery process.
Solution Approach 2:
The nested configuration allows the complex anchoring structure to be compacted into a simple delivery form, enabling rapid deployment that reduces procedure time. The nesting principle ensures that the complex structure only occupies space when actively deployed for anchoring, not during navigation or delivery.
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 system effectively anchors within the body lumen, reducing slippage and maintaining position, thereby enhancing navigation and reducing procedure time and trauma.
Implementation Method 1
The expandable anchoring portion self-expands from a collapsed configuration to an expanded configuration
Data Source
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AI summary
A wire guide system (100) and method of use are described. The wire guide system comprises a sheathing member (107), an elongate member (101), and a self-expandable expandable anchoring portion (104). The expandable anchoring portion is affixed to the distal end of the elongate member. Advancement of the wire guide system may be achieved by pre-loading the elongate member and the expandable anchoring portion into a lumen of the sheathing member. Upon reaching a target site within a body lumen, the sheathing member is proximally retracted so as to expose the expandable anchoring portion. Retraction of the sheathing member allows the expandable anchoring portion to radially self-expand and engage one or more walls of the body lumen so as to anchor the elongate wire in position. The elongate wire now provides a stabilized pathway for medical devices to be advanced thereover.