Expandable Capture Cage for Minimally Disruptive Clot Retrieval
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing treatments for thromboembolic events, such as embolectomy, surgery, and thrombectomy devices, are not always optimal in terms of clinical effectiveness, invasiveness, and cost, and there is a need for a minimally invasive device that can safely and effectively retrieve clots while minimizing disruption to blood flow, especially in tortuous blood vessels.
Innovation Solution
A stent retriever device with an expandable capture cage made of shape memory metal or superelastic material, featuring a porous design to allow blood flow and capture clots, is deployed through a catheter, expanding at the treatment site to ensnare and remove obstructions like clots, with features like flexible regions and radiopaque markers for guidance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a thrombectomy device is used to remove clots, then clot removal effectiveness is improved, but disruption to blood flow increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capture cage is designed with a porous structure that allows blood to flow through it while the clot is being captured and held within the cage. This porous design enables simultaneous clot retention and blood flow maintenance, resolving the contradiction between effective clot removal and minimal blood flow disruption.
2Reliability
If an expandable capture cage is deployed in tortuous blood vessels, then clot capture capability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The capture cage is constructed from flexible shape memory metal or superelastic material that can conform to the tortuous geometry of blood vessels. This flexibility allows the device to navigate complex vascular paths while maintaining its clot capture function, achieving reliable clot capture without requiring overly complex device architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The capture cage utilizes shape memory metal or superelastic material properties that allow it to change its physical state between a compressed delivery configuration and an expanded treatment configuration. This parameter change enables the device to be delivered through catheters in a compact form and then expanded at the treatment site to provide effective clot capture.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a minimally invasive device is used, then patient trauma is reduced, but device delivery control becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible material construction allows the device to be delivered through a catheter in a compressed state, minimizing patient trauma associated with invasive procedures. The flexibility also enables the device to navigate tortuous vessels while maintaining controllability during delivery and deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The shape memory or superelastic properties enable the device to transition from a deliverable compressed state to a functional expanded state, providing minimally invasive access while maintaining operational control through controlled parameter changes at the treatment site.
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 device effectively retrieves clots with minimal disruption, ensuring blood flow and enabling safe, cost-effective treatment of thromboembolic disorders, particularly in neurovascular thrombi, while maintaining vascular access.
Implementation Method 1
A stent retriever device with an expandable capture cage made of shape memory metal or superelastic material
Implementation Method 2
A stent retriever device with an expandable capture cage made of shape memory metal or superelastic material
Implementation Method 3
featuring a porous design to allow blood flow and capture clots
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and devices for removing an obstruction from a vessel include an elongate flexible shaft with an expandable capture cage coupled to the distal end of the elongate flexible shaft. The expandable capture cage has an expanded configuration and a collapsed configuration. The collapsed configuration is adapted to be delivered through the vessel and the expanded configuration is adapted to be expanded in the vessel to enmesh the obstruction.