Expandable Catheter Ablation for Cardiac Sympathetic Denervation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current cardiac sympathetic denervation procedures, particularly those using ablation devices in the pulmonary artery, often fail to provide sufficient denervation, necessitating additional methods due to incomplete interruption of sympathetic nerves along the coronaries from the base of the heart.
Innovation Solution
A catheter device with an expandable ablation member that can be introduced into the aorta to perform cardiac sympathetic denervation, featuring an expansion member that transitions from a compressed delivery state to an expanded ablation state, allowing for effective ablation at the aortic wall and between the ascending aorta and pulmonary trunk, thereby interrupting sympathetic nerves.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If ablation devices are used in the pulmonary artery to perform cardiac sympathetic denervation, then the procedure can be performed minimally invasively, but the denervation effectiveness is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional approach by moving the ablation device from the pulmonary artery to the aorta. This location change allows the ablation electrodes to contact the aortic wall directly, enabling effective denervation of sympathetic nerves that run along the aorta and supply the heart, thereby resolving the insufficiency of pulmonary artery-based approaches while maintaining minimally invasive access
2Reliability
If surgical procedures are used for cardiac sympathetic denervation, then complete interruption of sympathetic nerves can be achieved, but the invasiveness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical surgical resection approach with a catheter-based ablation system. The ablation electrodes deliver thermal energy to create lesions in the aortic wall and adjacent sympathetic nerves, achieving complete nerve interruption equivalent to surgical resection but through a minimally invasive percutaneous approach, thus resolving the contradiction between completeness of denervation and invasiveness
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 approach enables precise and effective denervation of sympathetic nerves in the vicinity of the cardiac plexus, potentially reducing the need for additional procedures and improving treatment outcomes for conditions like heart failure and hypertension.
Implementation Method 1
a catheter device including an ablation device may be used to perform an ablative procedure inducing a local denaturation of tissue at an ablation site
Data Source
AI summary
A catheter device for performing a cardiac sympathetic denervation intervention includes an ablation device for applying an ablation action. The ablation device has an expansion member that is expandable from a compressed delivery state to an expanded ablation state. The expansion member includes an inner lumen defining a blood flow passage through the ablation device in the expanded ablation state of the expansion member in an antegrade flow direction (F). The catheter device is configured for introduction into the aorta to perform a cardiac sympathetic denervation intervention at an ablation site within the aorta. The expansion member is configured to abut, in the expanded ablation state, an aortic wall section (W) and carries an ablation arrangement for applying ablation action at the ablation site.