Twisted-Wire Electromagnetic Navigation Sensor for Bending Durability
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current sensors used in catheters for luminal navigation, particularly in bronchoscopy, are prone to failure due to strain from bending forces, leading to a short useful life.
Innovation Solution
A method and device for forming a sensor using a twisted pair of wire without mechanical connections, where a wire is wound and twisted around a substrate, ensuring tight tension and bonding between wraps to enhance durability and prevent breakage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If discreet wires with metal bonding connections (soldering) are used to fabricate the sensor, then the sensor can be assembled with standard manufacturing techniques, but the sensor and its connections experience strain from bending forces that results in failure and short useful life
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the wire and substrate into a single integrated structure where the wire is wound around and bonded to the substrate形成一个整体。This eliminates the need for separate metal bonding connections between discrete wires, as the wire itself forms the sensor element directly on the substrate. The integration reduces connection points that could fail under strain.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the physical state and configuration of the wire from straight discrete segments to a wound twisted configuration around the substrate. This parameter change in wire geometry and arrangement allows the sensor to flex and bend without creating stress concentrations at connection points, thereby improving reliability under bending forces.
2Reliability
If the wire is wound tightly around the substrate with bonding between wraps, then the sensor durability and resistance to bending forces is improved, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex requiring specialized equipment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a substrate as an intermediary form around which the wire is wound. This substrate serves as a mandrel or support structure that enables the wire to be formed into a tight twisted configuration. The substrate facilitates the complex winding and bonding process by providing a stable form, and can be removed after the wire is securely attached.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by first securing the wire to the substrate and forming the wound region before creating the twisted configuration. The wire is initially fixed to the substrate, then wound around it in a controlled manner. This preliminary securing and winding sequence simplifies the overall manufacturing process by breaking it into manageable steps that can be performed with specialized but not overly complex equipment.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
A method and device for forming a sensor, the method including winding a desired length of wire from a first spool to a second spool, transferring the second spool to a spindle mounted in axial alignment with a substrate, securing the wire to a substrate, rotating the substrate about its axis such that the wire is drawn from the first spool to form a wound region, transferring the second spool to a twist former on which the first spool is mounted, and rotating the first spool and the second spool relative to each other to form a twist pair from the wire.