Adjustable Catheter-Deployed Heart Valve Coupling Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for treating mitral valve regurgitation are invasive and prone to complications, leaving elderly and frail patients with defective heart valves untreated, and there is a need for improved devices and methods to effectively seal native heart valves and reduce regurgitation.
Innovation Solution
The development of a prosthetic implant device with adjustable and releasable fastening mechanisms, including a coupling assembly with a pawl member and coil coupling member, that can be implanted around a native heart valve leaflet to coapt with and move away from opposing leaflets, allowing for adjustment and secure positioning to reduce regurgitation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If open-heart surgery is used to repair or replace heart valves, then effective treatment is achieved, but the procedure is highly invasive and prone to complications
Solution Approach 1:
A catheter is used as an intermediary delivery system to transport the prosthetic valve device through the vasculature to the heart valve site, avoiding the need for open-heart surgery. The catheter enables minimally invasive access while still delivering the therapeutic device effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The traditional mechanical open-heart surgical approach is replaced with a less invasive catheter-based delivery system. The prosthetic valve is deployed through the catheter using controlled expansion mechanisms rather than direct surgical implantation.
2Ease of manufacture
If a fixed positioning mechanism is used for the prosthetic implant, then implantation is simpler, but adjustment of relative positions of end portions is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling mechanism transitions from a locked state during delivery to an adjustable state after deployment. The first actuator member enables dynamic adjustment of the coupling member's position relative to the main body, allowing the device to adapt to different anatomical configurations while maintaining structural integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into separable components (main body, coupling member, actuator member) that can be independently positioned and adjusted. This segmentation allows for flexible positioning while maintaining overall device functionality.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the coupling member is fixed relative to the main body, then structural stability is maintained, but adjustment of end portion positions cannot be achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling mechanism provides dynamic positioning capability where the coupling member can be adjusted relative to the main body using the actuator member, then locked in place to maintain stability. This allows the structure to transition between adjustable and stable states as needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The relative position parameter of the coupling member can be changed during the adjustment phase, then fixed during the stable phase. The actuator member enables controlled parameter changes while the locking mechanism maintains parameter stability when adjustment is complete.
Data Source
AI summary
An implantable heart valve device has a main body including a first end portion and a second end portion. The main body is configured to be implanted around a native leaflet of a heart valve such that the first end portion is on an atrial side of the leaflet and the second end portion is on a ventricular side of the leaflet, and such that the main body can coapt with an opposing native leaflet during operation of the heart valve. One of the first or second end portions comprises a coupling assembly, and the other of the first or second end portions comprises a coupling member configured to extend through the native leaflet when the heart valve device is implanted in a heart valve. The coupling assembly is configured to releasably engage the coupling member to permit adjustment of the relative positions of the first and second end portions.