Assisted Cutting Balloon With Vibrating Wire Abrasive
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cutting balloons require high inflation pressures to effectively treat complex lesions in angioplasty, which can lead to vessel injury and restenosis, and may not efficiently manage both soft and calcified plaque.
Innovation Solution
The use of assisted cutting balloons that incorporate vibrating cutting devices, such as wire abrasives or laser-induced shockwaves, to enhance plaque removal with lower inflation pressures, allowing for controlled cracking and abrading of plaque without excessive vessel damage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If conventional cutting balloons are used with high inflation pressures to effectively treat complex lesions, then plaque removal effectiveness is improved, but vessel injury and restenosis risk increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting balloon incorporates a vibrating wire or mesh element that oscillates at high frequency during balloon inflation. This vibration enhances the cutting action of the wire/mesh on the plaque, allowing effective plaque removal at lower inflation pressures compared to conventional static cutting balloons, thereby reducing vessel injury while maintaining productivity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the purely mechanical cutting action of conventional balloons with a combination of mechanical vibration and acoustic energy. The vibrating wire/mesh element converts mechanical energy into vibrational motion that facilitates plaque cutting, reducing the need for high static inflation pressures and minimizing harmful mechanical stress on the vessel wall
2Strength
If high inflation pressures are applied to cut calcified plaque, then cutting capability is improved, but vessel trauma increases
Solution Approach 1:
The vibrating wire or mesh element delivers concentrated vibrational energy to the plaque-catheter contact points, enhancing cutting capability through mechanical resonance and fatigue effects. This allows the system to cut through calcified plaque effectively without requiring uniformly high inflation pressures across the entire balloon surface, thereby reducing overall vessel trauma
Solution Approach 2:
The cutting action is concentrated at specific locations where the vibrating wire or mesh contacts the plaque, creating localized high-stress zones for effective cutting. The rest of the balloon surface operates at lower pressures, maintaining vessel wall integrity while achieving sufficient cutting capability at the plaque interface
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
This approach reduces the need for high inflation pressures, minimizing vessel injury and effectively cutting or abrading both soft and calcified plaque, thereby improving the efficacy of balloon angioplasty while reducing the risk of restenosis.
Implementation Method 1
the laser light source transmits pulsed laser light into the contrast medium creating shockwaves that propagate through the contrast medium, thereby causing the cutting device(s) to vibrate
Implementation Method 2
a laser light source terminating at a distal end in the interior of the dilation balloon
Implementation Method 3
an ultrasonic apparatus having a flexible wire waveguide connected at a proximal end to the ultrasonic apparatus and connected at a distal end to the cutting device(s) transmits ultrasonic waves through the flexible wire waveguide to the cutting device(s), causing the cutting device(s) to vibrate
Data Source
Figure 1~3
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Figure 7
AI summary
A dilation balloon (12) is wrapped in one or more patterns with a wire (14) or braided material having diamond abrasive or other abrasive material bonded thereto. The wire or braided material is vibrated in one or more ways to enhance the cutting action of the wire abrasive. The wire abrasive may be vibrated using high, low, or even ultrasonic waves transmitted to the wire abrasive via local or remote methods or by shockwaves created by laser light absorbed by a contrast medium in the dilation balloon. The use of vibration enhances the performance of cutting balloons and thereby avoids the need to inflate balloons to excessive pressures, permitting the use of lower pressures, up to about 10 atms, and even more, typically no more than about 7.5 atms.