Biodegradable Polymer Stent Segmented Zigzag Design
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stents for vessels, particularly blood vessels, face challenges in flexibility for sinuous vessels, uniform force distribution, and the need for biodegradability, while also requiring sufficient strength to prevent restenosis and allowing for drug delivery.
Innovation Solution
A stent formed from biodegradable polymer yarns, structured in a zigzag design with multistage tubular segments that can be flexed and expanded, providing uniform support and incorporating a drug delivery mechanism.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a metal stent is used to provide sufficient supporting strength, then the stent can reliably support the vessel wall, but it causes foreign body reaction and requires surgical removal
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter from metal to biodegradable polymer, transforming the stent from permanent to temporary. This allows the stent to provide necessary mechanical support during the critical healing period and then gradually degrade, eliminating foreign body reactions and the need for surgical removal while maintaining adequate supporting strength throughout the treatment period
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a biodegradable polymer stent that serves its function temporarily and then degrades naturally in the body. This disposable approach eliminates the need for permanent implantation and subsequent surgical removal, reducing long-term complications while providing sufficient support during the vessel healing process
2Strength
If the stent is made rigid to support the vessel wall uniformly, then it provides reliable support, but it lacks flexibility for sinuous vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is divided into multiple modular segments or cells along its length. Each segment can independently deform and adapt to the vessel's curvature, while collectively providing continuous radial support. This segmentation allows the stent to maintain flexibility for navigation through sinuous vessels while delivering uniform radial force when expanded
Solution Approach 2:
The stent transitions from a rigid, fixed structure to a dynamic, adaptable structure. The polymer material and segmented design enable the stent to flex and conform to the vessel's natural curvature during delivery, then provide stable radial support when deployed, adapting its mechanical properties to different physiological conditions
3Adaptability or versatility
If the stent is made flexible to navigate sinuous vessels, then it can be inserted smoothly, but it may lack sufficient force to support the vessel wall
Solution Approach 1:
The segmented modular design allows each individual segment to remain flexible for navigation, while the collective arrangement of multiple segments provides cumulative radial support strength. The segments work together to deliver sufficient vessel wall support while maintaining overall stent flexibility for vessel conformability
Solution Approach 2:
The stent utilizes composite structure combining flexible polymer material with a segmented geometric design. This composite approach integrates the flexibility needed for vessel navigation with the radial strength required for vessel wall support, achieving both adaptability to sinuous vessels and adequate mechanical support
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed is a stent for a vessel implanted and left in the vessel of a living body to support the lumen of the vessel from inside. The stent for a vessel consists of a plurality of stent constituting members (4a and 4b), formed by combining a plurality of the tubular-body constituting elements (5a and 5b) in multistage, each of the tubular-body forming elements (5) comprising a part of a tubular member (2) is formed by bending a yarn (3) of a biodegradable polymer in a zigzag design. Each of stent constituting members (4a and 4b) is comprised with tubular segments (6) formed by combining the tubular-body forming elements (5a and 5b) facing each other, and by continuously joining at least neighboring parts of each tubular-body forming element (5a and 5b) together, to comprise a continuously joined tubular body (2).