Split Overtube Assembly with Textured Balloon Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional endoscopes face challenges in navigating irregular anatomy and small bowel examinations due to slipping issues with smooth balloons, leading to incomplete procedures and potential missed diagnoses of conditions like colorectal cancer, and require overtubes that complicate the process by needing the endoscope to be removed and reinserted.
Innovation Solution
An overtube assembly with a flexible tubular body and textured inflatable balloons that provide increased friction with physiological lumens, allowing for better anchoring and movement of endoscopes without the need to remove and reinsert the endoscope, using materials like Nylon and Hytrel Thermoplastic Polyester Elastomer with Everglide, and featuring a split design for easy installation over the endoscope.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If smooth latex-like balloons are used, then the balloon material is soft and flexible, but the coefficient of friction is low causing the balloon to slip prematurely
Solution Approach 1:
The balloon surface is modified with textured portions that have protrusions extending therefrom. These protrusions are concentrated in specific regions where anchoring is needed, while other portions of the balloon maintain smooth surfaces for flexibility and comfort. This local differentiation allows the balloon to provide enhanced friction and anchoring capability at critical contact points without compromising overall flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The balloon is constructed using composite material structures combining smooth latex-like base material with textured surface portions. The textured portions may consist of different material properties or surface treatments that increase the coefficient of friction, creating a composite structure that integrates both flexibility and enhanced anchoring capabilities in a single balloon component.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If conventional overtubes are used, then the enteroscope can be protected during insertion, but the enteroscope must be fully removed from the patient before attaching the overtube
Solution Approach 1:
The overtube is designed with a split configuration that allows it to be collapsed into a compact form that can be inserted through the endoscope's insertion channel or alongside the endoscope. The split overtube can be nested within or adjacent to the endoscope structure, allowing both devices to be introduced together as a single unit, eliminating the need to remove the endoscope for overtube attachment.
Solution Approach 2:
The overtube incorporates a flexible split design that allows it to dynamically adjust its shape and configuration. The split structure enables the overtube to collapse for insertion and then expand to its functional cylindrical shape once positioned, allowing adaptive transformation that facilitates simultaneous introduction with the endoscope and subsequent deployment.
3Reliability
If balloons are over-inflated to increase friction, then the friction with the wall increases, but damage to the patient's GI tract can occur
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of uniformly increasing balloon inflation pressure, the textured portions with protrusions are strategically positioned to concentrate friction-enhancing features at specific contact zones. This allows adequate anchoring friction to be achieved with lower overall inflation pressures, reducing the risk of GI tract damage while maintaining reliable anchoring at critical locations where the protrusions contact the lumen wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the surface topology parameter of the balloon rather than relying solely on inflation pressure. By introducing protrusions with specific geometries and distributions, the coefficient of friction is enhanced through surface morphology modification. This allows the balloon to achieve sufficient friction capability at lower inflation pressures, thereby reducing mechanical stress and potential damage to the GI tract.
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 solution enhances the success rate of medical procedures by maintaining better contact with the physiological lumen, reducing the need for repeated insertions and improving the completion of procedures, thereby facilitating earlier detection of conditions like colorectal cancer.
Implementation Method 1
The textured exterior surface includes a plurality of outwardly extending protrusions... When these anchoring balloons are inflated and deflated in succession, they aid in the advancement of the scope. When inflated, the balloons push against the wall of the colon, small bowel, or other physiological lumen, and grip the wall forming an anchor point
Data Source
Figure 1A~1D
Figure 1E
Figure 2A~2D
AI summary
An overtube assembly for use with an elongate medical tool includes an overtube including a flexible tubular body having a proximal end and distal end. The flexible tubular body includes a split extending from the proximal end to the distal end. The overtube assembly further includes an inflatable balloon coupled to a distal portion of the flexible tubular body. The flexible tubular body is disposable over a section of the elongate medical tool by inserting the elongate medical tool through the split.