Vascular Device with Dual Sharpness Arms for Occlusion Removal
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for disrupting vascular occlusions lack control over cutting or disruptive power, failing to effectively manage heterogeneous occlusions and risking damage to blood vessels during procedures like atherectomy and thrombectomy.
Innovation Solution
A medical device with a tubular body and radially extending arms featuring blades of varying sharpness, allowing for differential cutting power based on orientation, enabling precise disruption of occlusions while minimizing vessel damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a single sharp cutting surface is used to effectively remove occlusion material, then productivity is improved, but harmful factors increase due to risk of vessel wall damage
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting element incorporates multiple surfaces with different sharpness characteristics - sharp cutting surfaces for effective occlusion material removal and duller surfaces for safer interaction with vessel walls. This local differentiation of cutting quality allows the device to adapt its disruptive power to different tissue types encountered during the procedure.
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting element is divided into multiple segmented surfaces rather than a single continuous sharp edge. Each segment can have different sharpness properties, allowing independent optimization for different functions - some segments provide aggressive cutting for heterogeneous occlusions while others provide gentler interaction to minimize vessel damage.
2Productivity
If cutting sharpness is increased to effectively disrupt heterogeneous occlusions, then productivity is improved, but reliability decreases due to increased risk of perforation and valve damage
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the cutting element have different sharpness qualities tailored to specific functions. Sharper regions are positioned to engage occlusion material while duller regions are oriented toward vessel walls, providing localized control over cutting aggressiveness and maintaining vessel integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device enables dynamic control of cutting sharpness through rotation, allowing the operator to vary which cutting surfaces are active at different times. This dynamic adjustment permits aggressive cutting when encountering tough occlusion material while transitioning to gentler surfaces when near vessel walls, thereby maintaining reliability.
3Productivity
If rotational speed is increased to enhance cutting power, then productivity is improved, but harmful factors increase due to greater risk of endothelium denudation
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting element provides spatial variation in sharpness quality, with sharper surfaces for efficient material removal and duller surfaces for reduced vascular injury. This local differentiation allows the device to achieve effective cutting power without requiring high rotational speeds that would increase the risk of endothelium denudation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of relying solely on increasing rotational speed to enhance cutting power, the device changes the sharpness parameter of the cutting surfaces themselves. By providing a range of sharpness values across different surfaces, the device achieves effective cutting with lower rotational speeds, thereby reducing harmful effects on the vessel wall.
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein is a device for disrupting material in a body vessel and a method for making such a device. The device includes a plurality of arms disposed circumferentially about an axis. Each arm includes two blades; one sharper, and one blunter. The sharper blades are all oriented in the same direction, clockwise or counterclockwise, such that when the device is rotated in a first direction, the sharper blades engage the material, and in the other, the duller blades engage the material.