Biodegradable Nasal Implants for Valve Collapse
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current nasal implants and surgical methods for addressing nasal anatomy issues are invasive, costly, and have long recovery times, failing to effectively address problems such as nasal valve collapse and airflow resistance, which impact breathing and overall quality of life.
Innovation Solution
Development of minimally invasive nasal implant systems and methods using biodegradable materials and delivery tools that allow for precise placement of implants, such as pre-shaped or shapeable nasal implants, to provide structural support and initiate a fibrotic response for long-term tissue strengthening, with the option of energy-responsive implants for in vivo shaping to conform to nasal anatomy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional surgical methods are used to address nasal anatomy issues, then effective treatment is achieved, but invasiveness increases and recovery time extends
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical surgical instruments with a delivery system that utilizes a needle-like conduit to implant biodegradable mesh material. This substitution enables minimally invasive placement while maintaining treatment effectiveness through the bioresorbable nature of the implant material that gradually integrates with nasal tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs biodegradable materials that change their physical and chemical parameters over time. The mesh material transitions from a foreign body to integrated tissue through controlled degradation, allowing the implant to provide immediate structural support and then gradually become part of the nasal anatomy, reducing long-term invasiveness.
2Manufacturing precision
If pre-shaped nasal implants are used, then placement precision is improved, but adaptability to individual anatomy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a dynamic implant system where the pre-shaped mesh provides initial structural guidance, but the biodegradable nature allows the material to adapt and remodel according to the patient's specific anatomy over time. The mesh can be adjusted or repositioned as it degrades and integrates with the nasal tissue.
Solution Approach 2:
The implant is delivered as a mesh structure divided into multiple strands or wires forming a three-dimensional configuration. This segmentation allows the implant to conform to irregular anatomical shapes while maintaining manufacturing precision in the overall structure, enabling adaptation to individual patient needs.
3Stability of the object's composition
If biodegradable materials are used for implants, then tissue integration is improved, but structural support duration decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses biodegradable materials that are pre-engineered to provide sufficient structural support during the critical healing period, then gradually degrade to promote tissue integration. The mesh structure is designed to maintain strength when needed and then safely decompose to become part of the nasal tissue, eliminating the need for permanent foreign materials.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables minimally invasive procedures with rapid recovery, improved nasal function, and cosmesis, providing long-term support and strengthening of nasal tissues while minimizing pain and tissue damage, and allowing for custom fitting to address specific nasal anatomy issues.
Implementation Method 1
a resiliently deformable portion configured to have a contracted first shape and an expanded second shape
Data Source
AI summary
Described are implants for placing in a body, tools for delivering the implants, and systems and methods for using implants and tools for placing in a body and more particularly to nasal implants, tools for delivering nasal implants, and systems and methods for using such implants and tools. A tool may include a hand-held implant delivery device that cuts, holds, moves, orients, inserts, or shapes an implant. An implant may be a biodegradable, longitudinal implant that may be oriented for implantation by an implant delivery device.