Expandable Heart Valve Frame with Peaked Wire Structure
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heart valve implant apparatuses face challenges with sheath strength, flexibility, and manufacturing costs, particularly in expanding to accommodate larger devices during procedures, which can lead to vascular trauma and increased procedure time.
Innovation Solution
A transcatheter heart valve implant apparatus featuring a radially expandable frame with a wire structure comprising peak and valley portions made from materials like nickel titanium or stainless steel, allowing for selective expansion and contraction to accommodate varying device sizes, and a cover and jacket for enhanced strength and flexibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a traditional sheath is used, then the structure is simple, but the strength and flexibility are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is divided into multiple wire components (first wire, second wire, third wire) with different configurations. The first wire has peak portions and valley portions that provide radial strength, while the second and third wires provide axial flexibility. This segmentation allows each component to specialize in specific mechanical properties, resolving the contradiction between strength and complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame uses a composite structure combining multiple wire materials with different characteristics. The first wire (peaked configuration) provides radial strength, while the second and third wires (different configurations) provide flexibility. This composite approach allows the frame to simultaneously achieve both strength and flexibility without requiring a completely new material invention.
2Productivity
If a traditional sheath is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but the manufacturing cost and time are high
Solution Approach 1:
The frame is segmented into multiple independently manufacturable wire components that can be produced separately using standard wire forming processes. Each wire can be manufactured, shaped, and quality-checked independently before assembly, which improves manufacturing efficiency and reduces overall production time while maintaining ease of manufacture through modular construction.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a fixed-size sheath is used, then the structure is simple, but it cannot accommodate varying device sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The frame transitions from a static, fixed-size structure to a dynamic, expandable structure. The wire configuration with peak portions and valley portions allows the frame to change its radial diameter while maintaining structural integrity. This dynamic capability enables the sheath to accommodate varying device sizes without requiring multiple fixed-size sheaths, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the sheath expands to accommodate larger devices, then device compatibility improves, but vascular trauma increases
Solution Approach 1:
The frame's dynamic expansion capability allows it to adapt to different device sizes through controlled radial expansion. The wire configuration with peak and valley portions enables gradual, controlled expansion that reduces abrupt changes in diameter, thereby minimizing vascular trauma while maintaining device compatibility across various sizes.
Solution Approach 2:
The frame utilizes parameter changes in wire configuration (peak portions, valley portions, wire diameters) to control expansion characteristics. By adjusting these geometric parameters, the frame can achieve gradual, controlled expansion that accommodates larger devices while minimizing harmful mechanical stress on the vasculature, thus reducing vascular trauma.
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 apparatus reduces vascular trauma, procedure time, and complications by enabling selective expansion and contraction, maintaining radial strength and flexibility, and accommodating devices of various sizes without the need for multiple sheath sizes.
Implementation Method 1
a frame extending along a frame axis and radially expandable between a first position, in which the frame comprises a first cross-sectional size, and a second position, in which the frame comprises a second cross-sectional size different than the first cross-sectional size
Implementation Method 2
The wire comprises one or more of nickel titanium or stainless steel
Data Source
AI summary
A transcatheter heart valve implant apparatus includes a frame extending along a frame axis and radially expandable between a first position and a second position. The frame includes a wire extending circumferentially around the frame axis to define a lumen. The wire includes a first peak portion including a first amplitude measured from a plane perpendicular to the frame axis, a second peak portion including a second amplitude measured from the plane, and a valley portion attaching the first peak portion and the second peak portion. The first amplitude is different than the second amplitude, and the first peak portion and the second peak portion are positioned on a first side of the plane and the valley portion is positioned on an opposing second side of the plane. A cover extends along the frame axis and covers an outer radial side of the wire opposite the lumen.