Intravascular stent and intravascular nerve stimulation system

Abstract

The present application relates to an intravascular stent and an intravascular nerve stimulation system, which includes: a stent that can be implanted inside a target blood vessel; a nano-piezoelectric layer that includes a plurality of nano-power generation units, which are installed on the surface of the stent through a plurality of grooves arranged on the surface of the stent, and the nano-power generation units can convert the received ultrasonic mechanical energy into electrical energy for stimulating the nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel. This enables medical staff to not need to consider the energy problem of the nano-piezoelectric layer, and can supply energy from outside the body when the relevant nerves need to be stimulated, which fully reduces the risk of surgery, and can conveniently and quickly stimulate and treat patients. Moreover, by controlling the ultrasonic generator, it can generate ultrasonic waves of different intensities, thereby controlling the nano-piezoelectric layer to stimulate the relevant nerves to different degrees, which is convenient for medical staff to perform adaptive treatment on patients.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of medical devices, and in particular to an intravascular stent and an intravascular nerve stimulation system. Background Art

[0002] The body's nervous system is a dynamic equilibrium system composed of electrical and chemical signals. Under the influence of external factors, this balance is broken, which in turn promotes the occurrence and development of diseases. Therefore, by regulating the body's nervous system to restore this dynamic equilibrium state, the occurrence of diseases can be prevented and treated.

[0003] Direct or indirect splenic nerve stimulation can activate the downstream cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (Cendovascular stent system P), inhibiting inflammation and the progression of disease. Studies have shown that splenic nerve stimulation can significantly reduce the levels of anti-inflammatory factors such as TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6, inhibit the progression of inflammation-mediated disease damage, and provide a new strategy for the treatment of multi-system diseases such as myocardial ischemia, heart failure, hypertension, myocarditis, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, atherosclerosis, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and cerebral ischemia.

[0004] In addition, stimulating the sympathetic nerves around blood vessels, such as the nerves around blood vessels related to the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, muscles, etc., can also promote the contraction and relaxation function of the target blood vessels, promote the reconstruction of vascular physiological homeostasis and the recovery of other physiological functions. Chronic pain, cerebral ischemia, dystonia, tremor, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, neuropsychiatric diseases, etc. can also be treated by stimulating the spinal nerves. In addition, activating pressure receptors such as the carotid sinus can also enhance vagus nerve activity and reduce sympathetic nerve activity, ultimately restoring the balance of the autonomic nerves to achieve the purpose of preventing and treating diseases.

[0005] However, current implantable neurostimulation devices have disadvantages such as large battery size and short life. Replacing the battery will cause great inconvenience to the patients and may even increase the patient's disease risk and economic burden due to corresponding surgery. Therefore, the shortcomings of implantable neurostimulation devices in terms of energy supply and invasiveness have seriously hindered their progress. Summary of the invention

[0006] The embodiments of the present application provide an intravascular stent and an intravascular nerve stimulation system to solve the problems of difficulty in energy supply and inconvenience in use of nerve stimulation devices in the human body in the related art.

[0007] In a first aspect, an intravascular stent is provided, which adopts the following scheme:

[0008] An intravascular stent, comprising:

[0009] Stents, which can be implanted inside the target blood vessel;

[0010] The nano-piezoelectric layer includes a plurality of nano-power generation units, wherein the nano-power generation units are installed on the surface of the support through a plurality of grooves arranged on the surface of the support, and

[0011] The nano-power generation unit can convert the received ultrasonic mechanical energy into electrical energy for stimulating the nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel.

[0012] Through the above scheme, the stent installed inside the target blood vessel can support the target blood vessel while the nano-piezoelectric layer on its surface can vibrate under the action of the ultrasonic wave generated by the external ultrasonic wave generator, and further generate electric current thereon, and the generated electric current can eventually act on the relevant nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel, so as to achieve quick and direct stimulation of the relevant parts of the patient, and by controlling the ultrasonic wave generator to generate ultrasonic waves of different intensities, the nano-piezoelectric layer can be controlled to stimulate the relevant nerves to different degrees, so as to facilitate medical staff to perform adaptive treatment on patients;

[0013] At the same time, the nano-power generation unit can be more stably set on the surface of the stent with the help of the groove, so that it can smoothly follow the stent into the target blood vessel to act; and when relying on the stent to transmit current, since the nano-power generation unit is in the groove, it will have a larger contact area with the stent. When it generates current, it can be fully transmitted to the stent, and finally successfully stimulate the relevant nerves in the target blood vessel contacted by the stent.

[0014] In some embodiments, the nano-piezoelectric layer can be completely degraded in the human body.

[0015] Through the above scheme, after the nano-piezoelectric layer is implanted into the patient's body along with the stent, it does not need to be removed after the treatment is completed. It can be naturally degraded after a certain period of time, reducing related operations during the treatment process and facilitating the patient's subsequent recovery.

[0016] In some embodiments, the nano power generation unit uses a degradable polymer, which may be one or more of poly (L-lactide-co-glycolide), poly (3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid), polycaprolactone and polyvinyl alcohol.

[0017] In some embodiments, an outer protective coating is provided on the surface of the nano-piezoelectric layer, and the bracket is a conductive bracket.

[0018] Through the above scheme, the outer protective coating on the surface of the nano piezoelectric layer can further ensure the stability of the nano piezoelectric layer on the stent, and prevent the nano piezoelectric layer from falling off the stent when the stent moves in the target blood vessel. At the same time, the stent adopts a conductive stent, which can make the current generated by the nano piezoelectric layer be transmitted through the stent to the wall of the target blood vessel, thereby successfully stimulating the relevant nerves in the target blood vessel.

[0019] In some embodiments, the outer protective coating is completely degradable in the human body.

[0020] Through the above scheme, the outer protective coating can be naturally and completely degraded in the human body, avoiding safety hazards caused by its long-term existence in the human body.

[0021] In some embodiments, the outer protective coating is any one of methyl acrylate, polylactic acid, chondroitin sulfate and phosphorylcholine.

[0022] Through the above scheme, the selected several materials all have good blood-biocompatibility, can avoid inflammatory response and thrombosis, and prevent the material from falling off the stent.

[0023] In some embodiments, the stent can be completely degraded in the human body.

[0024] Through the above solution, the stent can be naturally degraded in the human body after a long period of time, avoiding the need for removal at a later time.

[0025] In some embodiments, the stent is a Zn-Cu alloy stent.

[0026] Through the above scheme, Zn-Cu alloy that can be naturally absorbed by the human body is used as the stent material, so that the stent can be effectively degraded and absorbed while supplementing the trace elements of the human body.

[0027] In some embodiments, the support is a hollow mesh structure.

[0028] Through the above scheme, the weight of the stent is effectively reduced, reducing the burden on patients. At the same time, the stent has better deformation ability, which is convenient for implantation into the target blood vessel after compression and subsequent expansion.

[0029] In a second aspect, an intravascular nerve stimulation system is provided, which adopts the following scheme:

[0030] An intravascular nerve stimulation system, comprising:

[0031] An intravascular stent as described above;

[0032] An ultrasonic wave generating device is used to perform ultrasonic vibration on the intravascular stent implanted in the target blood vessel.

[0033] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided by this application include:

[0034] The embodiments of the present application provide an intravascular stent and an intravascular nerve stimulation system. Since the stent installed in the target blood vessel supports the target blood vessel, the nano-piezoelectric layer on its surface can vibrate under the action of ultrasonic waves generated by an external ultrasonic generator, and further generate electric current thereon. The generated electric current can eventually act on the relevant nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel. Therefore, medical staff do not need to consider the energy problem of the nano-piezoelectric layer, and energy can be supplied from outside the body when the relevant nerves need to be stimulated, which fully reduces the risk of surgery and can stimulate and treat patients conveniently and quickly. By controlling the ultrasonic generator, it can generate ultrasonic waves of different intensities, thereby controlling the nano-piezoelectric layer to stimulate the relevant nerves to different degrees, which is convenient for medical staff to perform adaptive treatment on patients. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0035] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0036] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an intravascular stent provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 2 A cross-sectional view of an intravascular stent provided in an embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the intravascular nerve stimulation system provided in an embodiment of the present application.

[0039] In the figure:

[0040] 1. Bracket; 10. Groove;

[0041] 2. Nano piezoelectric layer; 20. Nano power generation unit;

[0042] 3. External protective coating;

[0043] 4. Ultrasonic wave generating device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] In order to make the purpose, technical solution and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0045] The embodiments of the present application provide an intravascular stent and an intravascular nerve stimulation system, which can solve the problems of difficulty in energy supply and inconvenience in use of nerve stimulation devices in the human body in the related art.

[0046] In a first aspect, the present application provides an intravascular stent, comprising:

[0047] Stent 1, which can be implanted inside the target blood vessel;

[0048] The nano-piezoelectric layer 2 includes a plurality of nano-power generation units 20, and the nano-power generation units 20 are installed on the surface of the support 1 through a plurality of grooves 10 arranged on the surface of the support 1, and,

[0049] The nano-power generation unit 20 can convert the received ultrasonic mechanical energy into electrical energy for stimulating the nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel.

[0050] Among them, the stent 1 installed inside the target blood vessel supports the target blood vessel, and the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 on its surface can vibrate under the action of the ultrasonic wave generated by the external ultrasonic wave generator 4, and further generate current thereon, and the generated current can eventually act on the relevant nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel, so as to quickly and directly stimulate the relevant parts of the patient, and by controlling the ultrasonic wave generator 4 to generate ultrasonic waves of different intensities, the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 is controlled to stimulate the relevant nerves to different degrees, so that medical staff can perform adaptive treatment on patients;

[0051] At the same time, with the help of the groove 10, the nano-power generation unit 20 can be more stably arranged on the surface of the stent 1, so that it can smoothly follow the stent 1 into the target blood vessel to act; and when relying on the stent 1 to transmit current, since the nano-power generation unit 20 is in the groove 10, it will have a larger contact area with the stent 1. When it generates current, it can be fully transmitted to the stent 1, and finally the relevant nerves in the target blood vessel contacted by the stent 1 are successfully stimulated.

[0052] This arrangement enables medical staff to not have to worry about the energy problem of the nano piezoelectric layer 2, and can supply energy from outside the body when relevant nerves need to be stimulated, thereby fully reducing surgical risks and stimulating and treating patients conveniently and quickly.

[0053] Optionally, the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 can be completely degraded in the human body.

[0054] With this arrangement, after the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 is placed into the patient's body following the stent 1, it does not need to be removed after the treatment is completed, and can be naturally degraded after a certain period of time, thereby reducing related operations during the treatment process and facilitating the patient's subsequent recovery.

[0055] Optionally, the nano power generation unit 20 uses a degradable polymer, which may be one or more of poly-L-lactide-co-glycolide, poly-3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid, polycaprolactone and polyvinyl alcohol.

[0056] Optionally, an outer protective coating 3 is provided on the surface of the nano-piezoelectric layer 2, and the bracket 1 is a conductive bracket 1.

[0057] In this way, the outer protective coating 3 on the surface of the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 can further ensure the stability of the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 on the stent 1, and prevent the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 from falling off the stent 1 when the stent 1 moves in the target blood vessel. At the same time, the stent 1 adopts a conductive stent 1, which can make the current generated by the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 be transmitted through the stent 1 to the wall of the target blood vessel, thereby smoothly stimulating the relevant nerves in the target blood vessel.

[0058] Optionally, the outer protective coating 3 can be completely degraded in the human body.

[0059] The outer protective coating 3 can be completely and naturally degraded in the human body, thus avoiding potential safety hazards caused by its long-term presence in the human body.

[0060] Optionally, the outer protective coating 3 is any one of methyl acrylate, polylactic acid and chondroitin sulfate.

[0061] With this arrangement, the above-mentioned materials all have good blood-biocompatibility, can avoid inflammatory response and thrombosis, and prevent the material from falling off the stent 1.

[0062] Optionally, the stent 1 can be completely degraded in the human body.

[0063] This arrangement enables the stent 1 to be naturally degraded in the human body after a long period of time, thus avoiding the need for removal at a later stage.

[0064] Optionally, the support 1 is a hollow mesh structure.

[0065] This arrangement effectively reduces the weight of the stent 1 and alleviates the burden on the patient. It also enables the stent 1 to have better deformation ability, making it easier to implant it into the target blood vessel after compression and to expand it later.

[0066] Second, refer to Figure 3 The present application provides an intravascular nerve stimulation system, which comprises:

[0067] An intravascular stent as described above;

[0068] The ultrasonic wave generator 4 is used to perform ultrasonic vibration on the intravascular stent implanted in the target blood vessel.

[0069] Among them, the intravascular stent installed in the target blood vessel can support the target blood vessel while the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 on its surface can vibrate under the action of the ultrasonic wave generated by the external ultrasonic wave generator 4, and further generate electric current thereon. The generated current can eventually act on the relevant nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel, thereby achieving quick and direct stimulation of the relevant parts of the patient. By controlling the ultrasonic wave generator 4, it can generate ultrasonic waves of different intensities, thereby controlling the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 to stimulate the relevant nerves to different degrees, which is convenient for medical staff to perform adaptive treatment on patients.

[0070] Based on the above principles, when the body is in a state of over-activation of long-term chronic inflammation, the blood pressure of hypertensive patients will be unstable and poorly controlled by drugs; or the disease progression of patients with chronic heart failure will be promoted or acute attacks will be induced. For patients with the above-mentioned chronic cardiovascular diseases, the intravascular stent provided by this application can be implanted into the splenic artery through interventional methods. Through in vitro ultrasonic response, the energy of the nano piezoelectric layer 2 is supplied to be converted into electrical energy, which directly stimulates the nerves electrically and can be released for a long time. By changing the ultrasonic parameters and combining the patient's vital signs, the safest and most effective stimulation parameters are selected. After the intravascular stent activates the splenic nerve, it activates the downstream spleen cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, reduces the release of inflammatory mediators, delays the progression of the disease, and is used for long-term adjuvant therapy. Accordingly, basic drugs and other treatment methods can be used at the same time to assist in synergistic manner and improve prognosis.

[0071] At the same time, long-term stimulation of chronic inflammation can also promote the shedding of coronary heart disease plaques, diabetic cardiovascular damage, etc. Therefore, this intravascular neural stimulation system can also be applied to various disease models and patient groups accompanied by chronic inflammatory pathological changes.

[0072] Patients with acute myocardial infarction undergo percutaneous coronary intervention. After the blood vessels are opened, ischemia-reperfusion injury is prone to occur, inducing cytokine storm, aggravating inflammation, and causing secondary myocardial injury. On this basis, the intravascular nerve stimulation system provided by this application can implant an intravascular stent into the splenic artery through intervention, provide energy through extracorporeal ultrasound, and the nano-piezoelectric layer 2 converts the ultrasonic energy into electrical energy, directly stimulates the splenic nerve, activates the spleen's cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, reduces the inflammatory state of coronary heart disease, avoids residual atheroma-like ulcers, prevents lumen obstruction from causing ischemic lesions, and reduces ischemia-reperfusion injury after percutaneous coronary intervention.

[0073] Systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, septic shock, autoimmune diseases or acute respiratory distress syndrome, arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and other inflammatory diseases can inhibit the progression of the disease by effective anti-inflammatory. Such diseases can also use this application for long-term chronic stimulation to control inflammation.

[0074] The heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, intestines, muscles and other parts that suffer from homeostasis imbalance due to vascular reconstruction can also use the device of the present application to stimulate the nerves around the target blood vessels, promote the contraction and relaxation function of the target blood vessels, and promote the recovery of homeostasis. The non-drug treatment of chronic pain, cerebral ischemia, dystonia, tremor, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and neuropsychiatric diseases can also use the device of the present application to stimulate the spinal nerves, thereby preventing and treating disease progression. In addition, hypertension, angina treatment, recurrent supraventricular tachycardia and atrial tachycardia show high sympathetic nerve tone, and the present application is used to stimulate the arterial sinus, increase vagal nerve tone, and improve the adverse progression of the disease.

[0075] The treatment regimens described herein can be administered before or after primary treatment modalities to allow sufficient time for modulation of local and systemic inflammatory mediators, cytokines, and cholinergic levels to achieve optimal clinical efficacy and restore immune homeostasis.

[0076] In the description of the present application, it should be understood that the positive direction of "X" in the drawings represents the right, and correspondingly, the reverse direction of "X" represents the left; the positive direction of "Y" represents the front, and correspondingly, the reverse direction of "Y" represents the back; the positive direction of "Z" represents the top, and correspondingly, the reverse direction of "Z" represents the bottom. The orientation or position relationship indicated by the terms "X", "Y", "Z", etc. is based on the orientation or position relationship shown in the drawings of the specification, which is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner.

[0077] In the description of the present application, it should be noted that the terms "upper", "lower", etc. indicate orientations or positional relationships based on the orientations or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation on the present application. Unless otherwise clearly specified and limited, the terms "installed", "connected", and "connected" should be understood in a broad sense, for example, it can be a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; it can be a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; it can be a direct connection, or it can be an indirect connection through an intermediate medium, or it can be a connection between the two elements. For those of ordinary skill in the art, the specific meanings of the above terms in the present application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.

[0078] It should be noted that, in this application, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "comprise a ..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0079] The above description is only a specific implementation of the present application, so that those skilled in the art can understand or implement the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein can be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present application. Therefore, the present application will not be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but will conform to the widest range consistent with the principles and novel features applied for herein.

Claims

1. An intravascular nerve stimulation system, characterized in that: It includes: Intravascular stents; An ultrasonic wave generating device (4) for ultrasonically vibrating the intravascular stent implanted in the target blood vessel; The intravascular stent comprises: A stent (1) can be implanted inside a target blood vessel; A nano-piezoelectric layer (2) comprises a plurality of nano-power generation units (20), wherein the nano-power generation units (20) are mounted on the surface of the support (1) via a plurality of grooves (10) arranged on the surface of the support (1), and The nano-power generation unit (20) can convert the received ultrasonic mechanical energy into electrical energy for stimulating the nerves in the wall of the target blood vessel; The nano-piezoelectric layer (2) can be completely degraded in the human body; The surface of the nano-piezoelectric layer (2) is provided with an outer protective coating (3), and the support (1) is a conductive support (1); The outer protective coating (3) can be completely degraded in the human body; The stent (1) can be completely degraded in the human body; The nano power generation unit (20) uses a degradable polymer, and uses one or more of poly-L-lactide-co-glycolide, poly-3-hydroxybutyric acid-co-3-hydroxyvaleric acid, polycaprolactone and polyvinyl alcohol; The outer protective coating (3) is any one of methyl acrylate, polylactic acid, chondroitin sulfate and phosphorylcholine.

2. The intravascular nerve stimulation system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support (1) is a Zn-Cu alloy support (1).

3. The intravascular nerve stimulation system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The support (1) is in the form of a hollow mesh structure.

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