Coring Tool with Alignment Marks for Heart Pump Implantation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for connecting a heart pump to the heart, such as ventricular assist devices, face challenges in precisely centering and sizing the hole in the myocardium for minimal leaking and tissue retrieval during implantation, leading to potential bleeding and increased blood loss.
Innovation Solution
A coring tool with a housing, movable shaft, and blade assembly, featuring a cup-shaped blade with a cone protrusion for precise hole creation and tissue retrieval, is designed to align with a sewing ring, allowing for centered hole formation and easy tissue collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a manual cross cut and retractable coring tool are used to core a hole in the ventricle wall, then the hole can be formed, but the hole may be formed off-center with respect to the sewing ring, causing bleeding at the inflow tube-ventricle interface
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment mechanism consisting of alignment marks on the sewing ring that correspond to markings on the coring tool. This intermediary visual guidance system mediates between the surgeon's manual operation and the precise centering requirement, allowing the surgeon to easily align the tool by matching the marks without requiring complex mechanical centering mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical centering mechanisms with a simpler visual alignment system. Instead of using mechanical guides, fixtures, or automated positioning systems, the invention uses visual markers that can be easily seen and aligned by the surgeon, substituting mechanical precision requirements with visual guidance.
2Productivity
If a retractable coring tool is used to form the hole, then the hole can be created, but the cored tissue may fall into the ventricle, requiring retrieval and increasing blood loss and procedure time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the cored tissue from the ventricle cavity by providing a retrieval mechanism that catches the tissue as it is cored. The tool includes a feature that allows the surgeon to immediately remove the cored tissue sample from the surgical field, preventing it from falling into the ventricle and eliminating the need for subsequent retrieval procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary tissue retrieval by designing the coring tool with an integrated retrieval mechanism that is ready to capture the tissue sample at the moment of coring. This preliminary action prevents the tissue from entering the ventricle in the first place, rather than requiring a separate retrieval step after the tissue has already fallen in.
3Ease of operation
If the hole is not centered relative to the sewing ring, then the implantation procedure becomes more difficult, but using complex centering mechanisms increases device complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary alignment mechanism consisting of alignment marks on the sewing ring that correspond to markings on the coring tool. This intermediary visual guidance system mediates between the surgeon's manual operation and the precise centering requirement, allowing the surgeon to easily align the tool by matching the marks without requiring complex mechanical centering mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by providing alignment marks only at the critical locations where centering is needed, rather than requiring the entire tool or sewing ring to have complex centering features. The alignment marks are placed locally on the sewing ring and tool to provide guidance only where necessary for accurate positioning.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool for coring a hole in a patient's body. A housing includes a first opening and a second opening and has an axis extending therebetween. A shaft is movably positioned along the axis. A blade assembly is attached to one end of the shaft. The blade assembly comprises a cup having an open end and a closed end and a cutting edge formed around the open end. An interface is attached to the housing, which is shaped and dimensioned to communicate with a connector used to connect a medical device to a the patient's body.