Curved Blood Pump Tip for Aortic Arch Navigation and LV Flow
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current ventricular assist devices face challenges in efficiently navigating the aortic arch and optimizing blood flow within the left ventricle, particularly in minimizing elongation and maintaining effective curvature to enhance cardiac output.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating an elongation-resistant aramid fiber within a delivery tube that traverses the aortic arch, biasing its orientation to minimize length and guide the blood pump outlet tube to curve away from or towards specific ventricular walls, thereby optimizing blood flow and reducing elongation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the delivery tube is made flexible to navigate the aortic arch, then ease of operation is improved, but the tube elongates and loses orientation precision
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery tube is constructed as a composite structure combining a flexible outer tube with an inner elongation-resistant fiber (such as aramid fiber). This composite design allows the tube to bend and navigate the aortic arch while the inner fiber resists elongation, maintaining orientation precision. The fiber runs axially along the tube wall, providing structural reinforcement without compromising flexibility.
2Manufacturing precision
If the delivery tube is made rigid to maintain orientation, then manufacturing precision is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates due to inability to navigate curved paths
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery tube is segmented into functional layers: an outer flexible tube that provides bendability for navigating curved anatomy, and an inner elongation-resistant fiber that maintains structural integrity and orientation. This segmentation allows each layer to perform its specific function optimally without compromising the other.
3Productivity
If the pump-outlet tube curves to optimize blood flow, then productivity is improved, but the tube becomes more complex and harder to deliver
Solution Approach 1:
The pump-outlet tube is pre-formed with the desired curved configuration before delivery. The elongation-resistant fiber is pre-tensioned within the tube wall to maintain this pre-formed curvature. When deployed, the fiber's tension preserves the optimized curved shape, ensuring proper blood flow dynamics without requiring complex adjustment mechanisms during the procedure.
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
This configuration enhances the ventricular assist device's ability to efficiently pump blood by minimizing elongation and optimizing curvature, improving cardiac output and reducing the risk of complications during percutaneous coronary interventions.
Implementation Method 1
an elongation-resistant fiber, which is typically an aramid fiber, runs axially along a wall of the delivery tube so as to bias an orientation of the delivery tube
Implementation Method 2
The elongation-resistant properties of the aramid fiber cause the delivery tube to adopt an orientation in which the length of the aramid fiber is minimized
Data Source
AI summary
Apparatus and methods are described including a blood pump that includes an axial shaft configured for insertion into, and rotation within, a left ventricle of a subject, and an impeller coupled to the axial shaft such that, as the axial shaft rotates, the impeller pumps blood from the left ventricle. A frame surrounds the impeller and a tip portion is coupled to a distal end of the frame. The tip portion includes a distal curved portion, which, when deployed within the left ventricle, lies in a plane, and a proximal curved portion, which, when deployed within the left ventricle, does not lie in the plane and is curved such that, following the insertion of the axial shaft into the left ventricle via an aorta of the subject, a distal end of the proximal curved portion points toward an apex of the left ventricle. Other applications are also described.