Self-Expanding Esophageal Stent With Anti-Migration Loop Supports
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing stents face challenges in accurately and repeatedly forming anti-migration features, which are crucial for anchoring them in place within body lumens, and existing solutions have certain advantages and disadvantages.
Innovation Solution
A self-expanding stent with an expandable framework and a polymeric outer sleeve, featuring anti-migration supports that extend radially outward at an oblique angle, are designed to self-expand and include anti-migration loops that deflect elastically to maintain anchoring forces despite peristaltic forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If self-expanding stents are used to simplify delivery and enable radial adjustment, then ease of operation and adaptability are improved, but precise positioning becomes difficult due to lack of axial adjustability
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates a dynamic axial adjustment mechanism that allows the stent to be repositioned along the delivery catheter after deployment. The adjustable axial position mechanism enables the stent to move dynamically between different axial positions while maintaining radial expansion, resolving the contradiction between ease of radial adjustment and adaptability of axial positioning.
2Device complexity
If conventional stents are used without anti-migration features, then device complexity is reduced, but stent migration and improper positioning occur
Solution Approach 1:
The stent incorporates preliminary anti-migration features including radial expansion locks and axial positioning mechanisms that are pre-configured to prevent migration before it occurs. These features are designed into the stent structure beforehand, providing reliable positioning without requiring complex additional components during deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent employs localized anti-migration features at specific positions along the stent body, such as engagement ridges at the proximal and distal ends and localized radial expansion locks. This approach provides reliable positioning stability without uniformly increasing the complexity of the entire stent structure.
3Ease of operation
If the stent is designed for easy deployment without recapture capability, then ease of operation is improved, but positioning precision deteriorates due to inability to adjust after expansion
Solution Approach 1:
The stent maintains a simple deployment mechanism while incorporating dynamic recapture and repositioning capabilities. The recapture mechanism allows the stent to be easily retrieved and repositioned along the delivery catheter after initial deployment, enabling precise positioning adjustments without compromising deployment 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 stent effectively resists axial migration within body lumens by transmitting axial forces radially outward through anti-migration supports, maintaining a constant inner diameter and reducing the impact of peristaltic forces, thereby ensuring stable placement.
Implementation Method 1
a balloon (202) configured to expand radially outward from an inflated position to a deflated position, wherein the balloon in the inflated position maintains the framework (204) in a compressed state along the longitudinal axis
Implementation Method 2
a self-expanding stent (200) comprising: a framework (204) configured to expand radially outward from a compressed state to an expanded state
Data Source
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AI summary
An esophageal stent may include an expandable framework having a first end, a second end, and a central longitudinal axis extending from the first end to the second end, the expandable framework being configured to expand from a radially collapsed configuration to a radially expanded configuration, and a polymeric outer sleeve disposed radially outward of and spaced apart from a body region of the expandable framework. The expandable framework may include a plurality of anti-migration supports extending radially outward from the body region of the expandable framework toward the polymeric outer sleeve.