Electroactive Polymer Cardiac Jacket for Heart Failure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for congestive heart failure, such as drug therapies, heart transplants, and ventricular assist devices, are inadequate for long-term management and often come with complications like clotting, strokes, and infection due to invasive procedures and limited availability of donor hearts.
Innovation Solution
A cardiac jacket made of electroactive polymer (EAP) that fits around the heart, assisted by stem cells and a generator to promote cardiac tissue growth, which assists heart contractions and restricts further enlargement, combined with a system for varying mechanical pressure to enhance heart function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If ventricular assist devices are used to assist heart pumping, then heart pumping function is improved, but device complexity and surgical invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a flexible cardiac jacket made of thin film material that wraps around the heart to provide external compression and support. This flexible shell approach avoids complex mechanical pumps while still assisting heart function through controlled external pressure, directly resolving the contradiction between improving pumping function and reducing device complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces complex mechanical VAD systems with a simpler pneumatic system using inflatable bladders and a portable compressor. The mechanical action of the heart is supplemented by controlled inflation/deflation cycles that assist pumping without requiring direct mechanical coupling, thus reducing overall system complexity while maintaining pumping assistance
2Productivity
If direct interface of VAD with patient's blood is implemented, then heart pumping assistance is achieved, but harmful factors such as clotting, strokes, and infection increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary pneumatic system with inflatable bladders that apply external compression to the heart. This mediator approach allows pumping assistance to be delivered through mechanical compression rather than direct blood contact, eliminating the harmful effects of clotting and infection while maintaining pumping function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the blood-contacting function from the pumping assistance system. By using external compression through the cardiac jacket and bladders, the system removes the need for direct blood interface components, thereby eliminating the associated harmful effects while preserving the therapeutic pumping assistance
3Shape
If cardiac jackets are used to physically limit heart expansion, then heart enlargement is restricted, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a dynamic cardiac jacket system with inflatable and deflatable bladders that can adjust their compression force in real-time. This dynamic approach allows the device to adapt to the heart's changing size and shape during different phases of the cardiac cycle, providing effective shape control without requiring complex rigid structures
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a flexible thin-film cardiac jacket that conforms to the heart's surface and can dynamically change its shape through bladder inflation. This flexible shell approach provides effective heart shape control and size restriction without the complexity of rigid mechanical structures, directly resolving the contradiction between shape control and device simplicity
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 cardiac jacket provides sustained assistance to heart contractions, promotes cardiac tissue regeneration, and restricts heart enlargement, potentially improving quality of life and survival rates for heart failure patients without the invasive risks of existing treatments.
Implementation Method 1
the jacket comprising an electroactive polymer (EAP) and the jacket having an inner surface in contact with the heart wall and an outer surface; and stem cells adhering to or entrapped on the inner surface of the cardiac jacket. The EAP switches between a longer and shorter state in response to electrical activation.
Implementation Method 2
the generator is adapted to deliver an electric potential or an electric current to the electrically conductive material to establish an electromagnetic field at the surface of the heart effective to promote growth and differentiation of the stem cells into cardiac tissue.
Data Source
AI summary
New methods and devices for treating heart failure and other cardiac disease conditions. Devices include a cardiac jacket adapted to fit generally around at least a portion of the heart. The jacket in some embodiments includes an electroactive polymer to squeeze the exterior of the heart to assist contraction of one or more pumping chambers, preferably the left ventricle. The jacket may also include stem cells on an inner surface of the jacket. The stem cells differentiate into cardiac tissue and help treatment of heart failure. Some embodiments also involve delivering an electric field or an electric current to electrically conductive material in the jacket to establish an electromagnetic field at the surface of the heart effective to promote growth and differentiation of stem cells into cardiac tissue.