Intravascular Blood Pump With Collapsible Seal for Pressure Relief
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Solution Overview
Problem
Intravascular blood pumps face challenges in managing high pressure differences within blood vessels, particularly in pulmonary arteries, which can cause harm to vessel structures.
Innovation Solution
An intravascular blood pump with a ring seal and support member that collapses when a predetermined pressure difference is exceeded, allowing blood to flow past the seal and maintaining a safe pressure range, featuring a self-regulating mechanism to prevent excessive pressure increases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the blood pump generates high pressure difference to pump blood through the pulmonary artery, then blood flow is improved, but the blood vessel may be damaged
Solution Approach 1:
The support member is designed to collapse when excessive pressure difference is applied, converting the harmful high pressure into a beneficial self-regulating mechanism. The collapse allows blood to flow past the seal, preventing vessel damage while maintaining adequate blood flow through the pump.
Solution Approach 2:
The support member changes its structural parameter (from expanded to collapsed state) in response to pressure difference changes. This phase transition enables the system to automatically adjust to pressure conditions, allowing the pump to operate at high pressure when needed while protecting the vessel when pressure becomes excessive.
2Reliability
If the ring seal is made rigid to maintain seal integrity, then sealing performance is improved, but the seal cannot accommodate pressure differences
Solution Approach 1:
The support member transitions from a rigid expanded state to a flexible collapsed state based on pressure conditions. This dynamic behavior allows the seal to maintain integrity during normal operation while adapting to pressure differences by collapsing and allowing blood to flow past the seal when necessary.
Solution Approach 2:
The support member undergoes a structural parameter change (expansion/collapse) in response to pressure differential. This enables the seal to be rigid when pressure difference is within safe limits, maintaining seal integrity, but becomes flexible when pressure exceeds safe levels, allowing the system to protect the vessel.
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 ring seal effectively limits pressure differences to safe levels, protecting blood vessels from damage while ensuring continuous blood flow, even in high-pressure environments like pulmonary arteries.
Implementation Method 1
the support member is configured to collapse at least partially when a predetermined pressure difference between the proximal area and the distal area of the blood vessel acts on the ring seal
Data Source
AI summary
An intravascular blood pump (1) comprises a ring seal (10) that is configured to assume a collapsed configuration and an expanded configuration and configured to contact and seal against an inner wall of the patient's blood vessel when inserted therein in the expanded configuration. A support member (12; 13) is disposed inside the ring seal (10) in order to support the ring seal (10) from the inside, wherein the support member (12; 13) is configured to collapse at least partially when a predetermined pressure difference between a proximal area and a distal area of the blood vessel acting on the ring seal (10) is exceeded.