Vascular Intervention Drum Assembly With Rollers for Precise Tool Translation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vascular intervention devices have complex structures that make it inconvenient to replace, clean, or reuse surgical tools, and they lack precise control over the translational movement of catheters and guide wires due to the branching and curved nature of blood vessels.
Innovation Solution
A vascular intervention device with a drum assembly that includes a rotatable supporter and a drum assembly with a rotation part and rollers, allowing for precise control of surgical tools through a combination of translational and rotational movements, using an interlocking mechanism to maintain consistent tension and prevent buckling or bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional complex structures are used for inserting and steering surgical tools, then the ability to navigate branching and curved blood vessels is improved, but the ease of replacing and cleaning surgical tools deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into a reusable outer catheter structure and a disposable inner surgical tool assembly. The surgical tool can be independently removed from the catheter through a release mechanism, allowing the catheter to be cleaned and reused while the surgical tool is discarded after single use. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by separating the navigation function (catheter) from the surgical function (tool).
Solution Approach 2:
The catheter structure is designed with universal features including a standardized release mechanism and steering control system that can accommodate multiple types of surgical tools. The catheter itself serves multiple functions: protecting the surgical tool during insertion, providing steering control through its shape memory alloy structure, and enabling tool replacement. This multi-functionality maintains adaptability while simplifying the overall system for easier operation.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual steering of catheters and guide wires is used, then the ability to navigate blood vessel branches is improved, but the precision of translational movement control deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The catheter incorporates a shape memory alloy wire that provides dynamic shape transformation capability. The alloy can be programmed to remember specific three-dimensional shapes corresponding to different blood vessel pathways. When activated, the alloy automatically transforms the catheter into the predetermined shape, providing both adaptive navigation and precise positional control without requiring manual manipulation. This dynamic property resolves the contradiction by automating the steering function while maintaining precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The device includes a control system that monitors the position and orientation of the catheter and surgical tool during insertion. This feedback information is used to adjust the shape memory alloy activation and steering control in real-time, ensuring precise translational movement control while adapting to the actual blood vessel anatomy. The feedback mechanism enables automated precision control that overcomes the limitations of manual steering.
3Ease of operation
If a single-use surgical tool system is used, then the ease of replacing contaminated equipment is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical tool is nested within the catheter structure, with the catheter acting as a protective sheath during insertion and deployment. The release mechanism is integrated into this nested arrangement, allowing the inner surgical tool to be smoothly extracted from the outer catheter. This nested design enables simple tool replacement without requiring complex disassembly procedures, as the tool can be directly pulled out and replaced through the same insertion pathway.
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 effective and accurate translational movement of surgical tools like catheters and guide wires, preventing unintended bending or buckling, and facilitating easy replacement and cleaning of contaminated equipment.
Implementation Method 1
a catheter comprising: a catheter body; and a shape memory alloy wire integrated into the catheter body, the shape memory alloy wire being configured to transform the catheter into a predetermined three-dimensional shape
Data Source
AI summary
There is provided a technique that includes: a supporter; and a drum assembly coupled to the supporter to be rotatable about a first axis, the drum assembly being configured to accommodate a flexible wire-type or tube-type surgical tool configured to be insertable into a blood vessel, and to allow the surgical tool to enter and exit through an entrance aligned on the first axis, wherein the drum assembly includes: a rotation part configured to be rotatable about a second axis and configured such that the surgical tool is wound around the rotation part in a circumferential direction about the second axis; and a pair of rollers configured to interlock with the rotation part and having a rotation axis parallel to the second axis, and wherein the drum assembly may be configured such that, when the rotation part rotates about the second axis, the surgical tool is guided to be pulled out from or inserted into the drum assembly through the entrance, and such that a portion of the surgical tool extending from the rotation part to the entrance is sandwiched between the pair of rollers.