Bioabsorbable Stent With Spiral Channels and Anti-Migration Tails
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current stents frequently migrate from the treatment site after implantation, necessitating additional procedures for extraction and replacement, particularly in chronic pancreatitis where fibrotic strictures require multiple stent exchanges, which are costly and risky for patients with comorbidities.
Innovation Solution
A biodegradable stent with an elongated body featuring open spiral channels and anti-migration tails, such as Y-shaped flares, to maintain positioning and facilitate controlled degradation, combined with a central lumen for guide wire passage and adjustable fluid flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional stents are used, then they provide structural support, but they migrate from the treatment site requiring additional procedures
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is divided into functional segments: the elongated body providing structural support and the separate anti-migration tails providing anchoring. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function optimally - the body maintains the duct open while the tails prevent displacement, resolving the migration issue without compromising support functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The anti-migration tails extend beyond the stent body in a dimensional extension, creating a Y-shaped configuration that engages with the duct wall in a different spatial orientation. This dimensional addition provides anchoring capability without interfering with the stent's primary radial support function, effectively preventing migration while maintaining ease of operation.
2Reliability
If multiple plastic stents are placed sequentially, then fluid flow is maintained, but the procedure becomes expensive and risky
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates biodegradable material with controlled degradation parameters, transitioning from a permanent structure to a time-dependent dissolving structure. This parameter change allows the stent to maintain structural integrity and fluid flow capabilities throughout the healing period, then gradually degrade to eliminate the need for removal procedures, reducing both time loss and procedural risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The biodegradable stent functions as a temporary, single-use device that completes its使命 and then dissolves naturally. This disposable approach eliminates the need for expensive, repeated exchange procedures or complex removal operations, significantly reducing loss of time and procedural risks while maintaining reliable fluid flow during the critical healing period.
3Strength
If the stent body is made rigid, then it provides strong support, but it cannot be easily deployed through narrow passages
Solution Approach 1:
The stent employs dynamic structural characteristics, transitioning from a compressed low-profile state during delivery to an expanded high-strength state at the implantation site. This dynamic behavior allows the stent to navigate narrow passages in a flexible, compressed configuration, then provide strong radial support once deployed, resolving both the deployability and support capability requirements.
Data Source
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AI summary
A stent is disclosed that has an elongated body composed of a bioabsorbable polymer having a proximal end, a distal end, two open spiral channels formed on the exterior surface of the body to provide fluid communication between the proximal end and the distal end. The stent has a central lumen open at the proximal and distal ends of the stent for the passage of a guide wire. The stent also has an anti-migration device used for immobilization of the stent at the target site.