Cardiac Jacket with Localized Pressure Bladders
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for treating heart diseases and valvular dysfunction, such as congestive heart disease and valvular regurgitation, are inadequate in providing sustained support and pressure to targeted regions of the heart, leading to incomplete alleviation of symptoms and suboptimal blood flow.
Innovation Solution
A cardiac implant system comprising a mesh body with fillable bladders positioned around the heart to apply localized pressure on specific areas, including the mitral valve and papillary muscles, using radiopaque markers for precise placement and a delivery device for minimally invasive installation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If jackets are placed around the heart to limit heart expansion, then congestive heart disease is treated, but the device cannot provide localized pressure to specific regions
Solution Approach 1:
The device divides the heart support function into multiple independent inflatable bladders positioned at specific locations (anterior, posterior, lateral walls) rather than using a single jacket structure. Each bladder can be independently inflated to provide localized pressure to targeted regions, enabling precise control over which areas receive support while reducing overall structural complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The device implements different functional zones by positioning bladders at specific heart wall locations (anterior, posterior, lateral) with varying inflation pressures. This allows each region to receive customized localized pressure tailored to its specific therapeutic needs, rather than applying uniform pressure across the entire heart surface.
2Duration of action of moving object
If bands with fillable chambers are placed around the heart, then localized pressure is exerted on heart valves, but sustained support over time is inadequate
Solution Approach 1:
The device enables continuous sustained support through programmable inflation schedules that maintain therapeutic pressure over extended periods. The controller can provide continuous inflation, periodic re-inflation, or sustained pressure maintenance protocols, ensuring consistent therapeutic effects throughout the day rather than temporary relief that requires frequent reapplication.
Solution Approach 2:
The device dynamically adjusts inflation pressures and durations based on real-time monitoring of heart conditions and patient response. The controller can modify pressure levels, inflation timing, and duration adaptively to maintain optimal therapeutic effects as heart conditions change throughout the day, ensuring consistent reliability of treatment.
3Measurement precision
If multiple fillable bladders are positioned at predetermined locations, then contemporaneous forces are applied to multiple targeted regions, but precise placement requires radiopaque markers
Solution Approach 1:
The device uses radiopaque markers attached to or integrated with the bladders that appear under imaging guidance (fluoroscopy, X-ray, or CT). These markers provide visual indicators of bladder location and orientation during the minimally invasive placement procedure, enabling precise positioning at predetermined heart wall locations without requiring complex surgical exposure or extensive anatomical knowledge.
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 system effectively supports the heart by applying contemporaneous forces to multiple targeted regions, reducing symptoms of conditions like functional mitral regurgitation and congestive heart failure, while allowing for growth of epicardial tissue for enhanced anchoring and prolonged therapeutic effect.
Implementation Method 1
one or more fillable bladders mounted to the mesh body at one or more predetermined locations so as to provide localized pressure at a targeted surface regions of the heart
Implementation Method 2
a leading hem region configured to elastically flex and engage with an atrial-ventricular groove of the heart
Implementation Method 3
The implant structure can be equipped with radiopaque markers at selected locations along the leading hem region, along or within the fillable bladders, or a combination thereof, so that the relative positioning of the implant structure and the targeted landmarks of the heart can be readily identified
Data Source
AI summary
Devices and methods for providing localized pressure to a region of a patient's heart to improve heart functioning, including: (a) a jacket made of a flexible biocompatible material, the jacket having an open top end that is received around the heart and a bottom portion that is received around the apex of the heart; and (b) at least one inflatable bladder disposed on an interior surface of the jacket, the inflatable bladder having an inelastic outer surface positioned adjacent to the jacket and an elastic inner surface such that inflation of the bladder causes the bladder to deform substantially inwardly to exert localized pressure against a region of the heart.