Subcutaneous Retention Device for Catheter Anchoring
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for securing medical devices like catheters and pacing leads in patients are prone to infection, migration, and dislodgment, causing discomfort and requiring costly corrective procedures due to suturing and adhesive tape inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
A retention device with a deployable anchor mechanism that subcutaneously secures medical devices, featuring a distal and proximal section with a restraint and anchor mechanism that transitions between configurations to gently secure the device in place, reducing the risk of infection and migration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If suturing is used to secure the medical device, then the device is anchored to the patient's body, but the area around the insertion point becomes difficult to clean and disinfect, resulting in high infection rates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the suture from the system by using a self-retaining catheter design where the catheter secures itself through its own structure (e.g., radiopaque elements, specific tip designs) rather than requiring external sutures. This eliminates the harmful effect of sutures creating infection-prone areas while maintaining reliable device anchoring.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces radiopaque elements as intermediaries that serve dual purposes: they provide visual guidance during insertion and procedure monitoring, and they structurally contribute to the self-retaining mechanism of the catheter, replacing the need for sutures while maintaining anchoring reliability.
2Ease of operation
If adhesive tape is used to secure the medical device, then the device is adhered to the skin, but it does not prevent inadvertent or violent removal of the device prior to completion of treatment
Solution Approach 1:
The invention employs dynamic self-retaining mechanisms where the catheter's structure (such as expandable tips, radiopaque elements, or specific geometric configurations) automatically adjusts to secure the device in place. This dynamic self-securing mechanism provides reliable retention without requiring adhesive tape, preventing both accidental and intentional premature removal.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different suturing and knotting techniques are used by different physicians, then various methods are applied to secure the device, but this results in wide variation of pull strengths required to rip out and dislodge the sutured medical device
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the fundamental parameter of device securation from variable human-applied suturing techniques to a standardized self-retaining structural design. The catheter's inherent geometry, radiopaque elements, and material properties provide consistent retention characteristics regardless of which physician performs the procedure, eliminating variation in pull strength requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A retention device for anchoring indwelling catheters, sheath introducers, feeding tubes, ostomy bags or other medical devices beneath the skin of a patient includes an deployable section coupled to a medical device; following introduction into a patient, the deployable section is subcutaneously deployed, securely anchoring the device and coupled medical device for the duration of treatment.