Ball-Slide Tether Attachment for Prosthetic Heart Valve Stent Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current prosthetic heart valve delivery systems face challenges in ease of delivery, positioning, and recapturing of expandable stents within the heart chamber, particularly due to the difficulty in collapsing fully expanded stents and the bulkiness of 2-chamber solutions that interfere with native valve functionality and require invasive anchoring.
Innovation Solution
The development of a delivery system that includes an operator-manipulatable tether attached to the stent for loading, collapsing, translating, repositioning, and deploying the expandable stent within the heart chamber, utilizing a ball slide attachment mechanism for secure attachment and manipulation, allowing for minimally invasive procedures and reduced trauma.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a fully expanded stent is used for heart valve replacement, then the valve functionality is improved, but the difficulty of collapsing and recapturing the stent increases
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is designed with dynamic properties that allow it to transition between expanded and collapsed states. The self-expanding stent framework can be compressed into a collapsed state within the delivery catheter and then automatically expand to its functional shape upon deployment, enabling both full expansion for functionality and complete collapse for recapturing
Solution Approach 2:
The collapsed stent framework is nested within the delivery catheter for minimally invasive delivery. The self-expanding structure allows the stent to be contained within the catheter during delivery and then expand outward upon release, facilitating both compact delivery and full functional expansion
2Reliability
If 2-chamber solutions are used for heart valve replacement, then the valve replacement capability is improved, but the bulkiness and interference with native valve functionality increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and addresses only the primary pathology within the target chamber, eliminating the need for 2-chamber solutions. The stent and valve are positioned and anchored entirely within the target chamber (e.g., left ventricle for mitral valve replacement), removing unnecessary components that extend into other chambers and reduce device bulkiness
Solution Approach 2:
The solution is localized to the specific chamber where the valve pathology exists, with the stent framework and valve components confined to the target chamber. This localized approach provides sufficient valve replacement capability while minimizing interference with native valve functionality in other chambers
3Reliability
If 2-chamber solutions are used for heart valve replacement, then the valve replacement capability is improved, but the requirement for invasive anchoring increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the need for invasive anchoring in non-target chambers by confining the entire stent and valve assembly to the target chamber. The self-expanding framework provides sufficient anchoring within the target chamber through radial expansion against the chamber walls, eliminating the need for additional anchoring structures in other chambers
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, devices and methods for attaching an operator-manipulatable tether(s) to the stent for: loading and/or collapsing the expandable stent into a delivery catheter or sheath, translating the collapsed stent along the delivery catheter or sheath, delivering the expandable stent into the subject heart chamber, repositioning the expandable stent as necessary within the subject heart chamber, recapturing or resheathing the expandable stent within the delivery catheter or sheath if needed, and deploying the expandable stent to, and within, the subject heart chamber.