Erodible Vessel Sealing Device Using Physical Dissolution
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wound closure devices for vessels have issues with prolonged degradation times, leading to inflammation risks, porosity, and potential obstruction of blood flow due to biological and chemical degradation, and reliance on encapsulating tissue for stability, which can fail.
Innovation Solution
A wound closure device using a material that dissolves through physical processes, such as erosion by blood flow, with a short dissolution time of less than seven days, minimizing tissue ingrowth and maintaining blood flow integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If biodegradable materials are used for the occluder, then the risk of inflammatory response is reduced, but the degradation time becomes too long (weeks to years)
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the degradation mechanism from biological/chemical processes to physical dissolution by selecting materials with specific solubility characteristics. This allows control of the dissolution rate through material selection and formulation, achieving a balance between reducing inflammatory risk and maintaining adequate mechanical support during the critical healing period.
Solution Approach 2:
The occluder employs composite material structures combining different polymers or material phases with complementary properties. This enables the material to provide sufficient mechanical strength initially while simultaneously undergoing controlled dissolution, achieving both short-term structural integrity and long-term biocompatibility without excessive degradation time.
2Reliability
If the occluder remains in the vessel for a long time, then it maintains sealing function, but it may obstruct subsequent medical operations at the same site
Solution Approach 1:
The occluder is designed with dynamic dissolution characteristics, transitioning from a stable sealing structure to a gradually dissolving material over time. This dynamic behavior allows the device to maintain its sealing function when needed while automatically removing itself to prevent obstruction of future operations, eliminating the need for manual removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The material is pre-formulated with controlled dissolution rates that anticipate future medical needs. By designing the dissolution timeline in advance, the occluder ensures complete or substantial removal before any potential subsequent operations, preventing interference with future procedures while maintaining sealing reliability during the initial recovery period.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If degradable materials are used, then the occluder can be absorbed by the body, but the materials become porous and lose rupture strength during degradation
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the degradation mechanism from progressive chemical/biological degradation that compromises structural integrity to physical dissolution that maintains strength until complete dissolution. This parameter change in the degradation mechanism allows the material to maintain adequate rupture strength throughout the functional period while dissolving completely after serving its purpose.
4Stability of the object's composition
If degradable occluders are used, then tissue encapsulation can occur, but this encapsulation may fail and cause the occluder to become loose
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the dependency on tissue encapsulation for occluder stability by using materials that dissolve completely without requiring biological integration. This eliminates the risk of encapsulation failure causing occluder loosening, as the material naturally dissolves and is eliminated by the body's normal physiological processes without relying on tissue response.
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 solution provides a safe and reliable closure with reduced inflammatory risk, preventing obstruction and ensuring quick removal of the device from the body, as it dissolves rapidly without relying on encapsulating tissue, thus maintaining vessel patency.
Implementation Method 1
a first sealing device (3) made of a material that dissolves by means of physical processes
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a dissolvable medical sealing device (3, 4; 6, 7; 9) for closing a wound in vessel. A sealing device (3, 4, 6, 7, 9) according to the invention is made of a material that dissolves by means of physical processes, rather than by means of chemical or biological processes. Such a sealing device (3, 4; 6, 7; 9) can be made of polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, copolymers containing ethylene glycol and propylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol or polyvinyl pyrolidone, or any combinations thereof.