Intravascular Blood Pump Intake Filter for Heart Tissue Ingestion Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intravascular blood pumps face the risk of ingesting heart tissue, such as trabeculae carneae or chordae tendineae, into the intake port, leading to potential damage and increased clot formation due to the high-speed rotation of the impeller and drive shaft.
Innovation Solution
An intravascular blood pump with a filter comprising a plurality of helical struts that define apertures, configured to prevent the ingestion of heart tissue by sizing the apertures to prevent tissue entry while allowing blood flow, and a radially compressible and expandable design for ease of insertion and removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the intake port is positioned close to the heart chamber wall to improve pump positioning, then the pump can be effectively positioned to span the heart valve, but the risk of the impeller drawing heart tissue into the intake port increases
Solution Approach 1:
A filter is introduced as an intermediary component between the blood vessel interior volume and the pump input port. The filter allows blood to pass through while blocking heart tissue, thus mediating the interaction between the pump intake and the heart chamber environment to prevent tissue ingestion while maintaining effective pump positioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The filter is constructed with a porous structure comprising a plurality of apertures that permit blood flow while physically blocking larger heart tissue structures. This porous design enables selective passage based on size, allowing the pump to remain close to the heart chamber wall without the harmful effect of tissue ingestion.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the apertures in the filter are made smaller to prevent heart tissue ingestion, then tissue ingestion risk is reduced, but blood flow efficiency may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The filter apertures are designed with specific size parameters that optimize the balance between tissue blocking and blood flow. The aperture dimensions are carefully selected to be small enough to prevent heart tissue ingestion while large enough to maintain adequate blood flow efficiency, representing an optimized parameter configuration.
3Ease of operation
If the pump housing and filter are made radially compressible to facilitate insertion through the vascular system, then ease of insertion is improved, but structural integrity during operation must be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The pump housing and filter are designed with dynamic mechanical properties, being radially compressible during insertion to navigate the vascular system, yet capable of maintaining structural integrity during operational use. This dynamic design allows the structure to adapt its rigidity based on operational phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The pump housing and filter incorporate flexible materials and structures that allow radial compression for easy insertion through catheters while maintaining sufficient structural strength during pump operation. The flexible shell design enables the device to be collapsed for delivery and then expanded to functional configuration.
Data Source
AI summary
An intravascular blood pump has an intake filter that reduces risk of heart tissue being sucked into an intake port of the pump. The filter defines a plurality of apertures, through which blood flows through the filter. The apertures are sized to prevent ingestion, by the input port, of the heart tissue. The filter includes a plurality of generally helical first struts wound about a longitudinal axis of the filter, and a plurality of second struts. The first and second struts collectively define the plurality of apertures therebetween. The struts may be woven filaments, or the apertures may be defined in a thin film (foil) tube, where remaining material between the apertures form the struts.