Thrombectomy Catheter with Shape Memory Coil
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing thromboembolic occlusions and foreign bodies from blood vessels are either invasive, risky, or inefficient, with existing devices often causing damage to vessel linings and requiring hours to days for thrombolysis, and lacking effectiveness in acute thromboemboli treatment.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a flexible catheter with an elongate member and an obstructive material engaging structure that transitions from a collapsed to an expanded configuration in response to energy delivery, allowing for percutaneous removal of thrombi and foreign bodies by engaging and extracting the obstructive material without shearing or damaging the vessel.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a Fogarty catheter is used to remove clots surgically, then the obstructive material can be removed from the vessel, but the interior lining of the vessel is damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical scorching action of the Fogarty catheter with a thermal field applied through a balloon-tipped catheter. The thermal energy selectively softens and removes the clot while the balloon protects the vessel lining from mechanical contact and thermal damage, thus eliminating vessel lining damage while maintaining clot removal effectiveness
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a balloon-tipped catheter as an intermediary device between the thermal field source and the vessel lining. The balloon acts as a protective barrier that allows thermal clot removal while preventing direct contact between the removal mechanism and the vessel lining, thus resolving the contradiction between effective clot removal and vessel protection
2Productivity
If thrombolysis is used to treat thromboemboli, then blood flow can be reestablished, but it takes hours to days and may cause hemorrhage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the chemical thrombolysis process with a mechanical/thermal field approach. By applying thermal energy directly to the clot through a balloon-tipped catheter, the clot is selectively softened and removed much faster than chemical dissolution, reducing treatment time from hours/days to minutes while avoiding the hemorrhage risk associated with systemic thrombolytic agents
3Adaptability or versatility
If balloon angioplasty is used to treat vessel stenosis, then the vessel can be dilated, but it is not effective for acute thromboemboli
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by concentrating thermal energy specifically at the clot location through a balloon-tipped catheter. The thermal field is localized to the thrombus rather than being applied systemically, allowing effective clot softening and removal while maintaining vessel integrity elsewhere, thus making the treatment effective for acute thromboemboli unlike conventional balloon angioplasty
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
Enables efficient and minimally invasive removal of thrombi and foreign bodies, reducing the risk of vessel damage and shortening the time to restore blood flow, while being effective for both thromboembolic occlusions and misplaced embolic coils.
Implementation Method 1
The obstructive material engaging structure may comprises a shape memory material (e.g., a shape memory alloy such as nickel-titanium or shape memory polymer) that will expand from the collapsed configuration to the expanded configuration in response to the delivery of energy which causes a temperature change
Implementation Method 2
a source of energy (e.g., electrical current, heat, light, ultraviolet light, etc) connected (e.g., by way of a wire, light guide or other energy delivering connection) to the obstructive material engaging member, such source of energy being operative to deliver to the obstructive material engaging structure energy which will cause the obstructive material engaging structure to transition from its collapsed configuration to its expanded configuration
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a clot and foreign body removal system, including a catheter with at least one lumen. Located within the catheter is a clot capture wire that is connected to a hub at the proximal end. In one embodiment, the clot capture wire includes a coil made out of an elastic or superelastic material, preferably nitinol. The elasticity or superelasticity of the coil allows it to be deformed within the catheter and to then reform its original coil configuration when the coil is moved outside of the catheter lumen. In another embodiment the coil is a biphasic, shape memory coil, which changes shape upon heating, energy application, or passing an electric current. Once the coil configuration has been established, the coil can be used to ensnare and corkscrew a clot or blockage in a vessel. A clot is extracted from the vessel by moving the clot capture coil and catheter proximally until the clot can be removed completely or released into a different vessel that does not perfuse a critical organ. Foreign bodies are similarly captured by deploying the coil distal to the foreign body and moving the clot capture coil proximally until the foreign body is trapped within the coil. By removing the device from the body, the foreign material is also removed.