Venous Diagnostic Catheter Scaffold for Accurate Force Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing intravascular devices face challenges in accurately assessing vascular lesions and delivering stents due to indirect and incomplete data on vessel compliance and mechanical constriction forces, potential tissue damage during catheter insertion, and inaccurate measurement data, particularly when sensors are sensitive to contact at the device tip.
Innovation Solution
A diagnostic catheter system with a deployable scaffold and integrated sensors that measure radial forces and diameter, configured for temporary expansion of the vascular lumen, includes a non-occlusive design to maintain blood flow, and uses sensors positioned away from the tip for more accurate data, with a calibration scheme for non-linear behavior and low-friction components to enhance data accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If sensors are positioned at the tip of the device to measure forces directly, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity increases and accuracy deteriorates due to sensitivity to contact at the tip
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the sensors from the tip region and relocates them to the handle body, removing the source of measurement errors caused by tip contact sensitivity while maintaining the ability to measure forces applied to the scaffold through the shaft assembly
Solution Approach 2:
The shaft assembly acts as an intermediary element that transmits forces from the scaffold to the sensors in the handle body, enabling indirect measurement that is more accurate and less sensitive to contact conditions at the tip
2Measurement precision
If the catheter device is designed to occlude the vessel lumen during insertion, then measurement accuracy is improved, but harmful factors increase due to blood flow blockage
Solution Approach 1:
The scaffold is designed with multiple openings between the struts, creating a porous structure that allows blood to flow through during insertion and deployment, maintaining patency while enabling the scaffold to expand and apply forces for diagnostic measurement
3Measurement precision
If the shaft assembly is made rigid to transmit forces accurately, then measurement precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to difficulty in navigation
Solution Approach 1:
The shaft assembly has different mechanical properties at different locations: the distal portion is more flexible to facilitate navigation through the vasculature, while the proximal portion is stiffer to accurately transmit forces to the sensors in the handle body
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter device may include a body. The body can include a handle body, an actuator, a force sensor, and a displacement sensor. The catheter device may include a scaffold. The scaffold can include a plurality of splines. Each of the plurality of splines can extend transversely and longitudinally along the body. The deployable scaffold can move between a first position to a second position and all positions in-between. The catheter device may further include a shaft assembly. The shaft assembly can include an outer shaft and inner shaft coupled to the body portion. In the first position, the scaffold can be in a collapsed state. In the second position, the scaffold can be in an expanded state. The force sensor and displacement sensor may be located in the body to measure force and/or displacement translated by the inner and outer shaft from the scaffold.