Variable-Tip Catheter Structure for Camera-Tool Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional catheters face a trade-off between camera and tool size, limiting image quality and tool availability due to parallel alignment, and suffer from misalignment of imaging direction with tool direction during expansion.
Innovation Solution
A catheter with a variable front end structure featuring incised slits and a flexible front end part, along with a guide groove for the signal wire, allows the imaging part to remain parallel to the insertion path direction despite expansion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the catheter tube diameter is reduced to fit body structure characteristics, then the catheter can be inserted minimally invasively, but the available space for camera and tool deteriorates, leading to trade-off between image quality and tool size
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter structure is divided into a proximal section and a distal section that can be independently positioned. The camera and tool are placed in different sections, allowing each to be optimized for its function without being constrained by the limited diameter of a single unified tube. This segmentation resolves the space conflict by distributing components across separate spatial zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional parallel arrangement (camera and tool side-by-side in the same cross-sectional plane) to a three-dimensional stacked arrangement (camera and tool at different longitudinal positions). This dimensional change allows both components to coexist within the constrained diameter by utilizing the longitudinal dimension of the catheter.
2Device complexity
If the support part and path are arranged parallel to each other inside the catheter tube, then the catheter structure is simplified, but the imaging direction of the camera becomes misaligned with the moving direction of the tool during expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter incorporates a flexible expansion mechanism that allows the distal section to dynamically change its orientation relative to the proximal section. During insertion, the sections remain parallel for simplicity, but upon deployment, the distal section can be angled to align the camera's imaging direction with the tool's moving direction, achieving precise alignment without permanent structural complexity.
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 minimally invasive insertion with improved image quality and tool accessibility, ensuring accurate imaging and tool orientation during surgical procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a front end part (130) made of a flexible material and adapted to surround the outer peripheries of the front ends of the imaging part (120) and the tube (110)
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter having a variable front end structure includes: a tube having an insertion path passing therethrough in a longitudinal direction thereof and one or more first incised slits extending by a given length from the front end side thereof toward the rear end side thereof; an imaging part placed on top of the tube between the one or more first incised slits and aligned in a line with the insertion path on the front end of the insertion path; a front end part made of a flexible material and adapted to surround the outer peripheries of the front ends of the imaging part and the tube; and a tool inserted into the insertion path, wherein the front end part comprises a second incised slit formed at a position distant by a given distance from the front end side thereof toward the rear end side thereof and extending in a width direction thereof.