What Is the Difference Between Distal Access Catheters and Intracranial Support Catheters?

Functions and Uses

Distal Access Catheters

Primarily used to establish a pathway from the distal end to the intracranial area, these catheters are widely applied in neurointerventional procedures such as thrombectomy and embolization. The design of these catheters emphasizes trackability, allowing them to smoothly navigate tortuous vascular structures and ensure that therapeutic devices can accurately reach the target area.

Intracranial Support Catheters

Intracranial support catheters are mainly used to provide intracranial support, helping microcatheters and stents maintain stability in the complex and variable intracranial environment. These catheters typically have stronger support and stability, significantly enhancing the stability of the pathway and effectively reducing surgical complications.

Structure and Materials

Distal Access Catheters

Structurally, distal access catheters usually have a large, smooth inner lumen to accommodate auxiliary devices such as guiding sheaths or balloon catheters. Material-wise, the outer layer might use high polymer materials to enhance flexibility and abrasion resistance, the middle layer might incorporate metal wires or alloys to increase strength, and the inner layer is typically made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or other low-friction materials to reduce friction and enhance smoothness.

Intracranial Support Catheters

In contrast, intracranial support catheter has a more complex structure. The catheters are often reinforced with braiding and coils to ensure that they provide support while maintaining good trackability and tip shapeability. For material selection, the inner layer might also use PTFE or other low-friction materials to reduce friction, the middle layer might incorporate metal braiding and nitinol springs to enhance support, and the outer layer might use varying grades of nylon, polyether block amide (Pebax), and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) to meet different surgical needs.

Performance Focus

Distal Access Catheters

In terms of performance, distal access catheters focus primarily on trackability. They need to navigate flexibly through very tortuous vessels and accurately reach the target site. Additionally, these catheters must be compatible with other therapeutic devices to perform complex operations such as thrombectomy. As such, trackability is one of the most critical performance indicators for distal access catheter.

Intracranial Support Catheters

On the other hand, intracranial support catheters primarily focus on support performance. They must provide good support and stability for other therapeutic devices to ensure that there are no incidents of device slippage or displacement during the procedure. At the same time, intracranial support catheters need to have a certain level of trackability and shapeability to adapt to the different intracranial vascular structures and surgical needs of patients. Therefore, support performance is the core characteristic of intracranial support catheters.