Branch Vessel Prosthesis Roll-Up Sealing Assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current endovascular grafting systems are inadequate for regions of the aorta with branch arteries, as they fail to provide a reliable fluid-tight seal and maintain blood flow to branch vessels, especially in challenging areas like the aortic arch where healthy tissue for fixation is scarce.
Innovation Solution
A side branch prosthesis with an expandable tubular body and a resilient sealing assembly, featuring an annular flange and a sealing sleeve that rolls up into a tightly-wound coil, is designed to form a fluid-tight seal with a main vessel prosthesis, ensuring proper blood flow to branch vessels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional endovascular graft is used in regions with branch arteries, then the graft can be deployed, but it fails to provide a reliable fluid-tight seal and may impair blood flow to branch vessels
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing assembly is divided into distinct functional components: an annular flange for outer surface engagement and a sealing sleeve for inner surface engagement. This segmentation allows each component to address specific sealing challenges at different interfaces, resolving the contradiction between achieving reliable sealing and maintaining blood flow to branch vessels.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing sleeve is designed with a resilient material that allows it to deform and conform to the inner surface of the main vessel prosthesis locally, creating a fluid-tight seal without requiring extensive healthy tissue for fixation throughout the entire graft structure.
2Reliability
If the sealing sleeve is made resilient to ensure fluid-tight seal, then sealing reliability improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing sleeve is integrated as a continuous component with the annular flange, merging the sealing function with the structural support function. This integration reduces device complexity by eliminating separate components while maintaining reliable sealing through the resilient material's inherent properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The resilient sealing sleeve automatically deforms and conforms to the inner surface of the main vessel prosthesis through its elastic properties, creating a fluid-tight seal without requiring complex active mechanisms or additional components. The material itself provides the sealing action.
3Reliability
If the sealing sleeve is made resilient to conform to vessel walls, then sealing performance improves, but the prosthesis may migrate or misalign
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing sleeve is designed with localized resilience that allows it to deform and conform to the inner surface for sealing, while the overall prosthesis structure maintains rigidity for stable placement. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between sealing performance and position stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The prosthesis is segmented into distinct functional zones: the sealing sleeve for local conforming and sealing, and the main body and annular flange for structural support and position stability. This segmentation allows each part to optimize its specific function without compromising the other.
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 effectively prevents blood leakage and ensures stable placement of the prosthesis, maintaining blood flow to branch vessels and reducing the risk of misalignment and migration, thereby improving the efficacy of endovascular grafting in regions with branch arteries.
Implementation Method 1
The sealing sleeve is adapted to be deformed in a first configuration during implantation and to deploy to a second configuration after implantation
Implementation Method 2
the graft anchoring component is one or more radially compressible stents that are radially expanded in situ to anchor the tubular graft to the wall of a blood vessel
Data Source
AI summary
A branch prosthesis configured for placement in a branch vessel includes an expandable tubular body portion, an expandable annular flange attached to a proximal end of the body portion, and a sealing sleeve proximally extending from the annular flange. The sealing sleeve is adapted to deform to a generally straight cylindrical hollow shape during implantation. When deployed, the sealing sleeve rolls up to a tightly-wound coil that bears against the annular flange. When used in conjunction with a main prosthesis having a side opening and deployed within in a main vessel, the annular flange of the branch prosthesis engages an outer surface of the main prosthesis around a perimeter of the side opening and the sealing sleeve engages an inner surface of the main prosthesis around the perimeter of the side opening to form a fluid-tight seal between the main prosthesis and the branch prosthesis.