Segmented Wire Guide Rib Coil Stiffness Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wire guides face a challenge in balancing stiffness and flexibility, often being too stiff to avoid damaging blood vessels during procedures or too flexible to navigate complex vascular structures effectively, particularly in delivering stents around tortuous paths and bifurcations.
Innovation Solution
A wire guide design featuring an elongated core with proximal and distal stops, a rib, and multiple coils of varying dimensions and materials, allowing for controlled flexibility and stiffness through tapers and coatings, with the coils attached via welding or adhesive methods, to provide enhanced support and maneuverability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If wire guide stiffness is increased to provide support for challenging procedures, then the wire guide can navigate tortuous paths and deliver stents effectively, but the wire guide may damage blood vessel linings during advancement
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide is divided into multiple sections with different flexibility characteristics. The distal portion includes a tapered section and flexible coil coverage for navigating tortuous paths, while the proximal portion has a stiffer construction for providing pushability and support during stent delivery procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the wire guide have locally optimized properties: the distal tip region is designed with higher flexibility to protect vessel linings during navigation, while the proximal shaft region is designed with higher stiffness to provide the necessary support for challenging interventional procedures.
2Ease of operation
If wire guide flexibility is increased to allow grasping and manipulation in branched vascular regions, then the wire guide can be retrieved and manipulated without damaging tissue, but the wire guide becomes more prone to kinking during advancement
Solution Approach 1:
The wire guide is segmented into a highly flexible distal portion for manipulation and retrieval, and a stiffer proximal portion for maintaining structural integrity and resistance to kinking during advancement through the vascular system.
Solution Approach 2:
The wire guide employs a composite construction combining different materials and structures - including the core wire, tapered sections, and coil coverage - to achieve both flexibility for manipulation and kink resistance for reliable advancement.
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
The design enables improved navigation through tortuous vascular paths while minimizing tissue damage, allowing for precise placement and retrieval of stents without kinking, thereby enhancing procedural success and safety.
Implementation Method 1
The coils may be attached to the rib by welding.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention generally relates to a medical surgical device and specifically a wire guide for percutaneous placement within a body cavity. In one embodiment, the wire guide includes an elongated core member having a proximal stop and a distal stop and a rib positioned between the proximal stop and the distal stop. A first coil is positioned over the elongated core member and extends between the proximal stop and the rib. A second coil is positioned over the elongated core member and extends between the rib and the distal stop.