Transvenous Brain Access Catheters with Selective Deflection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for accessing brain tissue are invasive, prone to complications, and lack the precision and safety required for minimally invasive transvascular access to extravascular spaces, particularly the brain, due to reliance on open craniotomy and stereotactic surgery, which result in complications such as disfigurement, infection, and neurologic deficits, and are not configured for navigating the cerebral venous system for targeted interventions.
Innovation Solution
A catheter-based endovascular transvenous approach using flexible, biocompatible catheters with selective deflectors and expandable supports for transvascular access to subdural and subarachnoid spaces, enabling navigation through cerebral veins with co-axial instrumentation for procedures like biopsy, imaging, and drug delivery, and ensuring hemostasis.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional open craniotomy and stereotactic surgery methods are used to access brain tissue, then access to intracranial structures is achieved, but the procedure causes disfigurement, pain, infection, hemorrhage, and other surgical complications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by accessing brain tissue through the venous system (blood vessels) rather than through the skull and meninges. Instead of making an external incision and drilling through bone, the catheter is introduced into a vein and navigated to the target intracranial location, completely reversing the traditional surgical pathway and eliminating associated complications
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the cerebral venous system as an intermediary pathway to reach intracranial targets. The catheter travels through the bloodstream, using the body's own vascular system as a conduit to deliver the intervention device directly to the brain tissue without external incision or bone removal
2Measurement precision
If stereotactic neurosurgical methods with fiducial markers are used, then tissue access is obtained, but mistargeting and suboptimal placement occur due to marker movement and distance from target tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the dependency on external fiducial markers by using the venous system itself as the positioning reference. The catheter is navigated through blood vessels that can be precisely mapped using imaging, eliminating the need for separate fiducial markers that may move or be misplaced
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical fiducial marker system with an imaging-guided vascular navigation system. Instead of relying on physical markers that require precise mechanical placement, the system uses imaging modalities to track the catheter's position within the venous system, providing continuous real-time localization
3Ease of operation
If large and rigid instrumentation is used in minimally invasive stereotactic neurosurgery, then tissue access is achieved, but excessive collateral damage occurs due to linear trajectories and rigid structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a flexible catheter instead of rigid instrumentation. The catheter's flexibility allows it to navigate the tortuous path of the venous system and adapt to the target site without causing damage to surrounding tissues, eliminating the need for rigid structures that cause collateral harm
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the natural curved and tortuous path of the venous system rather than forcing a linear trajectory. The catheter follows the curved vascular anatomy to reach the target, avoiding the need for straight-line approaches that would cause damage to intervening tissues
4Object-affected harmful factors
If transvascular catheter-based approaches are used, then minimally invasive access to brain tissue is achieved, but navigation through tortuous cerebral venous anatomy presents technical challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic, flexible catheter design that can adapt its shape and direction as it navigates the venous system. The catheter's dynamic properties allow it to respond to the tortuous vascular anatomy rather than requiring a rigid, pre-programmed path, simplifying the navigation process
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure discusses a devices, systems and methods for transvascular, transvenous and/or transdural access, to the brain parenchyma, subarachnoid or subdural spaces. In some embodiments, the disclosed systems and methods may be used for local drug delivery, tissue biopsy, nanofluidic or microelectronic device/component delivery/insertion/implantation, in situ imaging, ablation of abnormal brain tissue and the like. Embodiments of the present disclosure include an access catheter system for extravascular procedures in the brain having an elongate, flexible tubular body, with at least one lumen extending axially there through between a proximal end, and a distal end. The access catheter system may include a side exit port and a distal end port. Further, the access catheter system may include a selective deflector positioned within the lumen configured to deflect a procedure catheter and permit a guide catheter.