Compressible Spring Implants for Blood Vessel Reshaping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Insufficient compliance in blood vessels, such as the aorta, leads to reduced perfusion and cardiac output, resulting in health complications like heart failure.
Innovation Solution
Implantation of spring elements within blood vessels that store and release energy to reshape the vessel, mimicking natural compliance by transitioning between circular and non-circular shapes in response to pressure changes, enhancing diastolic flow and reducing systolic pressure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spring elements are implanted within blood vessels to store and release energy, then compliance is restored and diastolic flow is increased, but device complexity is introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element is designed to automatically expand and contract in response to pressure changes within the blood vessel, eliminating the need for external power sources or control systems. The spring self-regulates its operation through the natural pressure differential between systole and diastole, providing compliant behavior without complex control mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element's physical state changes in response to pressure variations. During systole, the spring compresses under high pressure, and during diastole, it expands under lower pressure, creating a cyclic mechanical action that restores compliance. This parameter-based operation avoids the need for electronic control systems.
2Power
If spring elements are compressed to store energy, then energy is returned to the blood vessel to reshape it, but force is applied to the vessel wall
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element operates in a periodic manner, cycling between compression during systole and expansion during diastole. This periodic expansion and contraction creates rhythmic reshaping of the blood vessel, mimicking natural compliance without sustained force application. The periodic action allows energy storage during one phase and energy return during another phase.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element dynamically adjusts its state based on real-time pressure conditions within the blood vessel. During high-pressure systole, the spring compresses; during low-pressure diastole, it expands. This dynamic response allows the system to store energy when needed and release it when needed, adapting to the natural pulsatile flow of blood.
3Productivity
If the spring element forces a non-circular shape in the blood vessel, then diastolic flow is increased, but the vessel wall experiences stress
Solution Approach 1:
The spring element applies non-circular shaping force periodically, only during diastole when the vessel is in a relaxed state. During systole, the spring compresses and releases its energy, allowing the vessel to return to a more circular shape. This periodic application of shape-altering force increases diastolic flow without causing sustained stress on the vessel wall.
Solution Approach 2:
The spring element is pre-loaded during systole when pressure is high, storing energy that will be released during diastole. This preliminary energy storage allows the spring to exert force on the vessel wall during diastole, shaping it into a non-circular configuration that increases flow, without requiring continuous force application.
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
Increases diastolic blood flow and decreases systolic pressure, improving cardiac efficiency and reducing pulsatile load without requiring vessel grafting or resection, thus addressing compliance issues and associated health complications.
Implementation Method 1
forcible manipulation of such spring elements, such as by compression of the spring element, can store energy in the spring element that can be returned to the target blood vessel
Implementation Method 2
the biased shape memory of the spring element can overcome the hoop stress/force in the blood vessel wall to once again reshape/remodel the blood vessel
Implementation Method 3
as luminal pressure increases in the blood vessel, the blood vessel walls, at two or more contact points with the spring implant, press radially-inwardly on the spring element
Implementation Method 4
the biased, elongated shape memory of the spring element can overcome the hoop stress/force in the blood vessel wall
Data Source
AI summary
An intravascular compliance-enhancing spring implant device includes a fully-cylindrical tubular frame defining a longitudinal axis and a non-circular cross-sectional shape having a major axis diameter and a minor axis diameter that is less than the major axis diameter, first and second longitudinal tissue-contact rails associated with first and second major-axis ends, respectively, of the tubular frame and adapted to press against an inner diameter of a target blood vessel, and first and second lateral connecting strut arrays associated with minor-axis sides of the tubular frame, the first and second lateral connecting strut arrays spanning between the first and second tissue-contact rails on diametrically opposite sides of a lumen of the tubular frame and adapted to be compressed along a major-axis dimension of the tubular frame in a manner as to reduce a distance between the first and second tissue-contact rails, storing spring energy in the lateral connecting strut arrays.