Controllable Piercing Side-Branch Stent Anchoring
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current side-branch stent technologies face challenges in efficiently attaching to main stent grafts, aneurysms, and blood vessels, particularly in creating controlled openings for maintaining blood flow and anchoring within these structures.
Innovation Solution
The development of a side-branch stent with apically movable leaves that can transition between closed and open states, featuring a controllable apical piercing tip, allows for controlled attachment and anchoring within main elements like stent grafts and blood vessels, ensuring fluid communication between central volumes and side branches.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a side-branch stent is designed with fixed leaves, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but the ability to controllably attach to and create openings in main stent grafts is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates movable leaves that can transition between closed and open states, allowing the structure to adapt dynamically to different attachment requirements. The leaves are mechanically linked to a controlling member that enables remote actuation, transforming a static structure into a dynamic one capable of controlled opening and closing actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent body is divided into multiple leaves that can move independently or collectively, with each leaf capable of being positioned to facilitate attachment or maintain structural integrity. This segmentation allows different portions of the stent to perform different functions simultaneously.
2Reliability
If the apical piercing tip is always extended, then attachment to main elements is achieved, but the risk of unintended piercing and damage during insertion is increased
Solution Approach 1:
The apical piercing tip is designed as a movable component that can be extended or retracted based on the operational stage. During insertion, the tip remains retracted to avoid damage, and is extended only when needed for attachment, controlled by the controlling member that responds to external actuation.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent is configured in a ready state where the piercing tip is retracted and the leaves are closed during insertion, preparing the device for safe navigation. The attachment action is initiated only when the stent reaches the target location, at which point the controlling member is actuated to extend the tip and open the leaves for secure attachment.
3Ease of operation
If multiple controlling members are added to control leaf movement and piercing tip extension, then precise control is achieved, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple controlling members are integrated into a single unified structure that can actuate both the leaves and the piercing tip. The controlling member is designed with interconnected components that transmit mechanical motion from a single actuation point to multiple functional elements, reducing the number of independent controls needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The controlling member is designed as a multi-functional component that performs multiple functions: it controls the opening and closing of leaves, extends and retracts the piercing tip, and potentially coordinates these actions in a predetermined sequence. This universal component reduces overall device complexity by consolidating control functions.
4Productivity
If the leaves are kept in open state continuously, then blood flow through the side branch is maintained, but the anchoring stability within the main vessel is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The leaves are designed to dynamically transition between closed and open states based on the operational phase. During insertion and anchoring, the leaves remain closed to provide structural stability and secure attachment. After anchoring is achieved, the leaves are actuated to open, maintaining blood flow while the stent remains securely anchored through the attachment mechanism.
Data Source
AI summary
Side-branch, piercing stents and corresponding methods are provided. The stent body has apically controllably movable leaves that have a closed state and an open state, and at least one of the leaves has an apical piercing tip that is controllably moveable from a contracted state to an extended, piercing state, in which it pierces an apically adjacent element such as a main stent graft, an aneurism or a blood vessel, creates an opening therein, enables insertion of the apical tip of the side -branch stent and allows for spreading the leaves to anchor them within the element and ensure blood flow between the volume of the element and the side branches. Controlling element(s) control the movements of the tip(s) and the leaves to enable controlled and accurate positioning of the side-branch stent, its attachment to the main element and its anchoring therein.