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Innovation in Design

— Reinventing the Clip

As the pioneers of the endoscopic hemoclip, Boston Scientific heeded the call for mechanical clipping, and even though the Resolution™ Clip remains the number one clip on the market the company heard loud and clear that customers needed more, the need to rotate the clip. However, as innovative experts in the field, it wasn’t enough to just create a clip that rotates, the mission was to reset the bar and advance the technology to the next level. 

Innovative Thinking

Boston Scientific set out to design a clip that would deliver controlled positioning and rotation without compromising the integrity and proven clinical performance of the Resolution Clip. It was understood early on that a control wire driven rotation mechanism would be more prone to manufacturing defects and a higher likelihood for whip and lag. “We saw an opportunity to build something that hadn’t yet been achieved,” explains Shawn Ryan, R&D technical team lead on the Resolution 360™ Clip design project.

Inventive Design

The Resolution 360™ Clip is uniquely designed with a 32 wire overbraid on top of the existing legacy coil with 16 wires braided in each direction, allowing for equivalent, one to one response in both clockwise and counterclockwise rotation. Furthermore, the ingenuity of the braided catheter allows for both nurse/technician driven rotation at the handle grip interface and for physician controlled catheter rotation at the biopsy cap.

Dennis Hubbard, R&D technical team lead on the project explains “we realized early on that providing control at the biopsy cap allows the physician to instantly manipulate and position the clip where they want without the added step and time of directing the nurse or technician on rotation.” The Resolution 360 Clip is designed for control that enables procedural efficiency and accuracy. 

Customer Validation

It is not enough to assume you have the right product, therefore Boston Scientific conducted extensive customer testing throughout the development process. Early on, the company conducted a 2-day evaluation lab gathering feedback from over 70 physicians from around the world. In the end testing was conducted on over 350 prototypes by over 125 physicians, ensuring that the company formulated a clip that met the needs of the physician. “A highlight of the project was hearing physicians tell me: You just showed me something that I didn’t think could be achieved,” says Ryan.

 

For more information on the Resolution 360 Clip

Visit the Innovation Portal. https://innovation.bostonscientific.com/

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