Artificial Chordae Anchor Positioning With Tissue Contact Sensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current visualization tools are inadequate for distinguishing between tissue and inorganic materials in minimally invasive medical procedures, such as transcatheter cardiac surgery, leading to obscured views and improper implantation of devices like artificial chordae tendineae anchors.
Innovation Solution
A delivery device equipped with multiple sensors at its distal end generates signals upon contact with tissue to ensure proper deployment of implantable devices, such as an anchor for artificial chordae tendineae, without the need for imaging.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If conventional surgical techniques are used to place anchors, then the procedure requires large incisions and extensive tissue dissection, but this increases patient trauma and surgical complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The surgical approach is segmented into percutaneous needle puncture followed by separate wire manipulation steps, allowing anchor placement through small incisions rather than requiring a single large incision with extensive dissection
Solution Approach 2:
Guidewires and delivery catheters serve as intermediary tools that navigate through the heart chambers to deliver anchors to target locations, eliminating the need for direct surgical exposure of the anchor placement site
2Manufacturing precision
If anchors are placed without precise positioning tools, then the procedure is simpler, but anchor placement accuracy and valve repair effectiveness decrease
Solution Approach 1:
Echocardiographic imaging provides real-time feedback on wire and catheter positions, allowing the operator to visualize and adjust the location of delivery tools and deployed anchors to achieve precise positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The guidewire incorporates a radiopaque or echogenic distal portion that changes its detectability characteristics, allowing visual confirmation of wire tip location and depth during the positioning process
3Reliability
If multiple separate tools are used for wire delivery and anchor deployment, then each tool can be optimized for its specific function, but the number of devices and procedural steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery catheter integrates both the anchor storage chamber and the deployment mechanism within a single device, allowing the anchor to be delivered and deployed through one integrated tool rather than requiring separate delivery and deployment devices
Solution Approach 2:
The delivery catheter serves multiple functions: it delivers the guidewire to the target location, transports the anchor to the deployment site, and provides the mechanism for anchor release, consolidating what could be separate specialized tools into one multi-functional device
Data Source
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AI summary
Implantable devices formed of materials which are not readily imageable, and which may shift from a delivery configuration to a deployment configuration upon deployment, are delivered and deployed with a deployment/delivery device having sensors generating a signal indicating contact of the delivery/deployment device with tissue to guarantee purchase of the implantable device with tissue upon deployment. The implantable device may be a tissue anchor with talons which shift from a delivery configuration to a deployed configuration. The sensors may be positioned along a distal end of the delivery/deployment device to indicate purchase of the device with tissue, to ensure purchase of the talons with tissue upon deployment. The sensors may include at least three sensors, which may be spaced apart from one another, to indicate full contact of the distal end of the delivery/deployment device with tissue. The sensors may optionally be aligned with the talons.