Integrated Wireless Multiple-Modality Catheter Hub for Reduced OR Clutter
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Solution Overview
Problem
Catheters used in medical procedures are often single-use and lack sophisticated electrical components, requiring separate data processing equipment, leading to a cluttered and hazardous operating environment due to multiple cables and large equipment footprint.
Innovation Solution
A multiple-modality system with a battery module, wireless module, computing module, and modality circuitry supporting various catheter modalities, integrated in a compact housing with synchronization technology to minimize interference and share peripheral equipment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate data processing equipment and cables are used for each catheter, then data processing capability is ensured, but the operating room becomes cluttered and hazardous
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple data processing equipment and cables into a single integrated hub device. This hub consolidates the connectivity for multiple catheters (ICE, IVUS, RF ablation, FFR) into one centralized unit, eliminating the need for separate processing equipment and multiple cables, thereby reducing operating room clutter while maintaining full data processing capability
Solution Approach 2:
The hub device is designed with universal functionality to support multiple catheter modalities simultaneously. It can process data from different types of catheters (electrophysiology, imaging, ablation) through a single device, replacing the need for modality-specific equipment and reducing the overall number of devices required in the operating room
2Reliability
If multiple separate equipment are used for different catheter modalities, then each modality's performance is optimized, but the number of equipment and cables increases
Solution Approach 1:
The hub device incorporates multiple functional modules within a single system, each capable of handling specific catheter modalities. The device can simultaneously manage ICE imaging, IVUS imaging, RF ablation, and FFR measurements through integrated circuitry and processing units, maintaining modality-specific performance while reducing equipment count
Solution Approach 2:
The hub device is internally segmented into specialized modules for different catheter types, with each module optimized for its specific function. This modular architecture allows the single device to handle multiple modalities independently while maintaining performance standards, effectively replacing multiple separate equipment pieces
3Ease of manufacture
If catheters are constructed from inexpensive materials with simple mechanical elements, then costs are minimized, but sophisticated electrical components and control systems are lacking
Solution Approach 1:
The hub device acts as an intermediary that provides sophisticated electrical processing and control capabilities externally. The catheters themselves remain simple and inexpensive, but the hub compensates for their limited electronics by providing advanced signal processing, imaging reconstruction, and control functions, effectively separating the complexity from the disposable catheter to the reusable hub
Data Source
AI summary
A multiple-modality catheter system disposed in a housing comprises a battery pack, a wireless module to communicate with a control console, a remote control or remote controls and a display or displays, a computing module, a modality circuitry module to control a plurality of catheter modules, and a connector or a plurality of connectors adapted to connect to a plurality of catheters. The multiple-modality catheter system may be highly integrated to fit a reusable universal catheter handle. The multiple-modality system includes a synchronization circuitry to minimize interference between the catheter modalities to get high quality ultrasound images. The ultrasound image quality improvement feature can be further enhanced by system noise detection and correction. And the multiple-modality system disclosed can be used for lesion tracking and ablation by applying deep-learning.