Patent Application
20240181211
The present disclosure relates generally to medical devices and procedures. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a handle assembly for supporting and controlling a steerable catheter.
This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
A catheter is a medical instrument for use in accessing an interior of a patient's body with a distal tip during a medical procedure. The catheter can include at least one working component, such as a fluid channel, a working channel, and/or an electronics cable, which extend along the catheter and terminate at or adjacent the distal tip. There is a growing trend in the industry to also integrate circuits into the catheter shaft, thereby providing intelligence to the catheter (i.e., a “smart catheter”).
The current state of the art for connectorizing to the circuits in the smart catheter typically involves running a plurality of wires through the smart catheter and out a proximal end, at which point the plurality of wires need to be cut to length, jacket stripped, ends pre-tinned, and then connected via solder or laser welding to electrical contact pads or wires in an umbilical cable disposed inside the handle assembly. However, this is a time consuming and costly manufacturing process, as a result of the multiple cutting, soldering, and/or welding manufacturing processes. Additionally, the resultant handle assembly lacks robustness due to the small, fragile wires which are required to establish an electrical connection to the circuits in the smart catheter. Accordingly, there remains a continuing need for improved ways of establishing an electrical connection with a circuit of the smart catheter during assembly of the handle assembly.
This section provides a general summary of the disclosure and is not intended to be a comprehensive disclosure of its full scope, aspects, objectives, and/or all of its features.
The subject invention is directed to a handle assembly for a smart catheter that includes a housing extending along an axis from a proximal end to a distal end. A smart catheter extends through the housing and along the axis from a receiving end to a distal tip that extends outwardly from and terminates in spaced relationship with the distal end of the housing. The smart catheter includes an outer catheter surface extending annularly about the axis between the receiving end and the distal tip. At least one circuit is disposed along the outer catheter surface and extends between the receiving end and the distal tip. A ring connector is co-axially aligned with the smart catheter and is disposed in radially surrounding relationship with a portion of the outer catheter surface to dispose the ring connector in electrical communication with the circuit.
The subject invention is also directed to a method of assembling a handle assembly for a smart catheter. The method includes providing a housing extending along an axis from a proximal end to a distal end, and disposing a ring connector within the housing and in axially aligned relationship with the axis. The assembly method proceeds by inserting a smart catheter having an outer catheter surface including at least one circuit into the housing, and then passing the smart catheter through the ring connector to dispose the ring connector and the smart catheter in co-axially aligned relationship. In this position, the ring connector is disposed in radially surrounding relationship with a portion of the outer catheter surface to dispose the ring connector in electrical communication with the at least one circuit.
The handle assembly and method of assembling same in accordance with the subject invention simplifies the process of establishing an electrical connection with the at least one circuit of the smart catheter by eliminating the small, fragile wires and associated soldering and/or welding processes required by the prior art handle assemblies to establish an electrical connection with the circuit(s) of the smart catheter. Put another way, in this simpler manufacturing design, the ring connector functions as a female connector component and the circuit arranged on the outer catheter surface functions as the male connector component to establish a solderless electrical connection between the ring connector and the smart catheter. Thus, the resultant handle assembly is not only more cost effective and easier to assemble due to the solderless design, but the ring connector also makes the overall handle assembly more robust due to reduced likelihood of connector breakage.
Further advantages will become apparent from the description provided herein. The description and specific examples in this summary are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments, and are not all possible implementations and thus are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Example embodiments will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. The example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and fully convey the scope to those skilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, mechanisms, assemblies, and methods to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms, and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. With this in mind, the present disclosure is directed to a handle assembly 10 including a ring connector 12 for quickly and easily establishing an electrical connection with a smart catheter 14 during assembly and use of the handle assembly 10.
Referring to the Figures, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the handle assembly 10 is generally illustrated in
The smart catheter 14 includes an outer catheter surface 28 extending annularly about the axis A between the receiving end 22 and the distal tip 24 to define an outer diameter Do for the smart catheter 14. At least one circuit 30 is disposed on the outer catheter surface 28 and includes a circuit trace 32 extending between a proximal contact pad 34 disposed adjacent the receiving end 22 of the smart catheter 14 and a distal circuit end a disposed adjacent the distal tip 24 of the smart catheter 14. In a preferred arrangement, the at least one circuit 30 extends to a distal contact pad 36 at the distal circuit end for being disposed in electrical communication with at least one working component (such as a sensor) during use of the handle assembly 10. However, this sensor working component could also be incorporated into the at least one circuit 30 at the distal circuit end, such that a distal contact pad 36 may not be required. In either arrangement, the at least one circuit 30 is preferably comprised of copper due to its low cost and high conductivity, but other conductive materials could be utilized without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure. As best illustrated in
A ring connector 12 is coaxially aligned with the smart catheter 14 in radially surrounding relationship with a portion of the outer catheter surface 28 to dispose the ring connector 12 in electrical communication with the at least one circuit 30. More specifically, the ring connector 12 includes an annular body 38 presenting an outer connector surface 40 and an inner connector surface 42 each extending circumferentially around the axis A in radially spaced relationship with one another. The inner connector surface 42 defines a central opening 44 having an inner diameter Di being approximately equal to the outer diameter Do of the outer catheter surface 28 for disposing the inner connector and outer catheter surfaces 28, 42 in opposing and direct contact with one another when the smart catheter 14 is inserted and passed through the ring connector 12 during manufacture of the handle assembly 10. The ring connector 12 also includes at least one electrical connector 46 comprised of conductive metal that extends along at least the inner connector surface 42 and is disposed in abutting and electrical communication with the proximal contact pad 34 of the circuit 30 for establishing the electrical connection between the ring connector 12 and the smart catheter 14. In a preferred arrangement, the at least one electrical connector 46 includes a plurality of electrical connectors 46 arranged around the inner connector surface 42 of the annular body 38 in circumferentially spaced relationship with one another, each disposed in abutting and electrical connection with a proximal contact pad 34 of a respective one of the plurality of circuits 30. Although the preferred arrangement is described in relation to an electrical connection between the electrical connector 46 and the proximal contact pad 34, the electrical connector 46 could also be disposed in abutting and electrical communication with other portions of the circuit 30, such as the circuit trace 32, without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure. In a preferred arrangement, the annular body 38 is a single, unitary component. However, the annular body 38 could also be comprised of multiple pieces (e.g., two semi-circular components which are joined together) without departing from the scope of the subject disclosure.
As briefly mentioned above, during manufacture of the handle assembly 10, the smart catheter 14 is inserted or passed through the ring connector 12 to dispose the inner connector surface 42 of the ring connector 12 in overlaying relationship with a portion of the outer catheter surface 28, preferably the portion including the proximal contact pad 34, as a result of the equally sized diameters Di, Do of the inner connector surface 42 and the outer catheter surface 28. The sliding movement of the smart catheter 14 proximally and distally relative to the ring connector 12 provides for easy location and placement of the inner connector surface 42 of the ring connector 12 in radially surrounding and overlaying relationship with the portion of the outer catheter surface 28 including the proximal contact pad(s) 34 to dispose the at least one electrical connector 46 in electrical communication with the proximal contact pad(s) 34. Thus, the ring connector 12 simplifies the process of establishing an electrical connection with the at least one circuit 30 of the smart catheter 14 by eliminating the small, fragile wires and associated soldering and/or welding processes required by the prior art handle assemblies to establish an electrical connection with the circuit(s) 30 of the smart catheter 14. Put another way, in this simpler manufacturing design, the ring connector 12 functions as a female connector component and the circuit 30, preferably the proximal contact pads 34, arranged on the outer catheter surface 28 functions as the male connector component to establish a solderless electrical connection between the ring connector 12 and the smart catheter 14. Thus, the resultant handle assembly 10 is not only more cost effective and easier to assemble due to the solderless design, but the ring connector 12 also makes the overall handle assembly 10 more robust due to reduced likelihood of connector breakage. The ring connector 12 also provides for increased yields for catheter assembly lines that have electrodes/electrical connections from the smart catheter to the handle assembly.
As best illustrated in
As best illustrated in
The annular body 38 of the ring connector 12 is comprised of a non-conductive material, preferably plastic, to provide electric isolation/insulation for the electrical connectors 46. The annular body 38 is also preferably a molded or machined component that could consist of two or more molded/machined components fixed together or as one single molded component (with insert-molded electrical connectors 46) such that the mounted electrical connectors 46 are fixed in position.
As best illustrated in
Consistent with handle assemblies for steerable catheters, such as disclosed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 9,737,688, the smart catheter 14 includes at least one deflection wire 66 that extends from the distal tip 24 and into the housing 16 for use in curling the distal tip 24 in response to movement of the at least one deflection wire 66. The handle assembly 10 includes a dial 68 rotatably connected to the housing 16 for rotation about the axis A by a user, and at least one actuation screw shaft 70 is disposed within the housing 16 and connected with the at least one deflection wire 66. The dial 68 and actuation screw shaft 70 are operably connected with one another such that rotation of the dial 68 by the user effectuates axial movement of the actuation screw shaft 70 to provide for movement of the at least one deflection wire 66 to curl the steerable, smart catheter 14. As best illustrated in
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment, but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
