Expandable Heart Valve Docking Station for Vessel Adaptation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Transcatheter heart valves often struggle to securely implant in larger native valves or pulmonary arteries due to size mismatches, as they may not expand sufficiently to fit the deployment site, leading to instability and potential complications.
Innovation Solution
The development of an expandable docking station with a valve seat, sealing portions, and retaining portions that can adjust to fit various sizes and shapes of blood vessels, using materials like metal frames covered with fabric or open cell foam, allowing the docking station to expand radially and provide a secure seal while minimizing radial outward forces on the vessel wall.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a transcatheter heart valve is sized for most native aortic valves, then it can be universally applied, but it becomes too small to securely implant in larger native valves or pulmonary arteries
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two separate components: a docking station that is deployed and expanded first to establish a secure foundation in the vessel, and then a transcatheter heart valve that is delivered and implanted within the docking station. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently - the docking station for vessel anchoring and the valve for cardiac function.
Solution Approach 2:
The docking station serves as an intermediary structure between the blood vessel wall and the transcatheter heart valve. It provides a stable platform that bridges the size mismatch, allowing a universally sized valve to be securely implanted in vessels of varying sizes including enlarged aortic valves and pulmonary arteries.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the docking station expands radially to fit various vessel sizes, then adaptability improves, but radial outward forces on the vessel wall increase
Solution Approach 1:
The docking station features non-uniform radial expansion along its length, with different sections expanding to different degrees. The proximal and distal ends may expand more to engage the vessel wall securely, while the middle section maintains a smaller profile. This localized quality variation allows adaptability to different vessel sizes while concentrating forces at specific locations rather than uniformly across the entire structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The docking station employs dynamic expansion characteristics where the timing and degree of expansion of different sections can be controlled. Some portions expand earlier or to greater extents than others, allowing the structure to adapt to vessel geometry while managing force application progressively rather than simultaneously, reducing peak stresses on the vessel wall.
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 expandable docking station ensures a secure and stable implantation of transcatheter heart valves across a range of vessel sizes and shapes, reducing the risk of displacement and enhancing the retention of the valve during both systolic and diastolic phases by utilizing blood pressure for enhanced retention.
Implementation Method 1
The one or more sealing portions can be constructed to expand and extend outward of the valve seat and provide a seal over a range of sizes
Implementation Method 2
The one or more retaining portions can be configured such that force applied by at least one of the one or more retaining portions is in proportion to the pressure of blood acting on the docking station
Data Source
AI summary
Expandable docking stations for docking an expandable valve can include a valve seat, one or in ore sealing portions, and one or more retaining portions. A system for deploying an expandable docking station can include a catheter having a sleeve for retaining the docking station.