Wrapping Catheter System for Thrombus Retrieval
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing thrombi from body vessels often result in fragmentation, wedging, or incomplete removal, especially in smaller vessels, due to their design and rigidity, which can lead to further complications.
Innovation Solution
A wrapping catheter system with a spinal wire and chordal wire equipped with a contractible-expandable net that envelops the thrombus peripherally, using shear forces to pull it out without pushing, thereby reducing friction and fragmentation risks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional rigid catheters with capturing structures are used to remove thrombi, then the thrombus can be grasped and pulled out, but the thrombus is pushed from behind causing wedging against vessel walls and fragmentation
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of pushing the thrombus from behind with a rigid catheter, the invention inverts the approach by using a flexible catheter that envelops and pulls the thrombus forward, eliminating the pushing action that causes wedging and fragmentation
Solution Approach 2:
The invention employs a flexible catheter with a contractible-expandable net structure that can conform to the vessel geometry and envelop the thrombus, allowing gentle extraction without rigid contact that causes damage
2Productivity
If rigid catheters with capturing cages or helixes are used, then thrombi can be mechanically removed, but smaller-vessel thrombi cannot be reached due to dimension and flexibility limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible catheter design allows the device to navigate through smaller vessels and adapt to varying vessel geometries, extending accessibility to previously unreachable locations
Solution Approach 2:
The contractible-expandable net structure dynamically adapts its configuration, contracting for navigation through narrow vessels and expanding for effective thrombus capture, providing versatility across different vessel sizes
3Productivity
If suction catheters generating negative pressure are used, then thrombi can be removed by suction, but the method is time-consuming and rarely successful after the available time frame has elapsed
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the suction-based mechanical system with a direct mechanical extraction system using the flexible enveloping catheter, enabling faster and more reliable thrombus removal within the available time frame
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~2A
Figure 2B~2D
AI summary
The invention is referred to a wrapping system which displays favorable grasping characteristics in operations requiring the entrapment and removal of blocking items in tubular geometries. What would be helpful for overcoming the limitations of prior art devices, which frequently cause either wedging of the blocking items with the wall of the surrounding tissues, or lead to partial or total fragmentation of the occluding item, is a wrappingdesign. This can be accomplished with the aid of a netted wire (1, 2, 4) based wrapping action which yields a configuration that surrounds the blocking item, such as a thrombus, peripherally, thus capturing its body tangentially and allowing the operator to pull it along the surrounding tube (for instance vein or artery) by utilizing shear forces distributed along the surface of the blocking item in its axial direction. The advantage stems from the fact that the blocking item is not pushed from behind during its withdrawal, but pulled instead; also, since there is no penetration, fragmentation is avoided. In accordance with the invention, the core of the basic design consists of a system comprising a catheter, a spinal wire and a chorda ! wire aligned with it, equipped with a web-like contractible-expandable net and a pulling string, where on deployment of the system it transforms into a conical or conical-and-cylindrical wrapper that envelops and tightens the blocking item allowing for its subsequent retrieval.