Airway Wall Opening Device for Minimally Invasive Lung Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for diagnosing and treating medical conditions in the lung lack effective means to access and treat tissue beyond the airway wall in a minimally invasive manner, particularly for conditions like COPD where collateral channels are needed to relieve hyper-inflated lungs and trapped gases.
Innovation Solution
The development of methods and devices that create and maintain extra-anatomic openings or channels through the airway wall, allowing for the delivery of substances and instruments to target tissue, using techniques such as creating collateral channels, deploying conduits with bioactive agents, and employing balloon catheters to maintain patency and prevent closure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If conventional methods are used to access lung tissue beyond the airway wall, then diagnostic and treatment capabilities are limited, but minimally invasive access is achieved
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nested doll principle by placing the elongate instrument inside the catheter for delivery to the target site, then advancing it through the created opening. The catheter serves as an outer container that guides and protects the inner instrument during navigation to the lung tissue, enabling minimally invasive access to target tissue beyond the airway wall.
2Reliability
If collateral channels are created to relieve hyper-inflated lungs, then lung decompression is achieved, but channel closure occurs over time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by deploying the expandable implant into the created opening before significant tissue healing and closure can occur. The implant is inserted and expanded in advance to maintain the opening patent, preventing the natural closure process that would otherwise occur over time in the created collateral channel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses local quality by providing the expandable implant specifically at the site of the created opening in the airway wall. The implant locally modifies the tissue structure by expanding and anchoring into the opening, creating a permanent patency maintenance mechanism at that specific location without affecting other areas of the lung.
3Ease of operation
If openings are created through the airway wall, then access to lung parenchyma is enabled, but tissue trauma increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical surgical approaches with a more refined mechanical system. Instead of open surgical incisions or large punctures, the invention uses a catheter-based delivery system with an elongate instrument that creates a controlled, minimal opening through the airway wall. The expandable implant then maintains this minimal opening with reduced tissue disruption compared to conventional surgical access methods.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices for diagnosing, monitoring, and/or treating tissue through an opening or port through an airway wall are provided herein.