Expandable Mesh Cage for Emboli Capture and Blood Flow Restoration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current medical devices for increasing blood flow through obstructed blood vessels are cumbersome, difficult to deploy, and often ineffective in capturing smaller embolic particles, with existing treatments for acute ischemic stroke being limited in efficacy and associated with risks such as bleeding and vessel complications.
Innovation Solution
A vascular recanalization device featuring an elongate member with an expandable member that can be compressed for delivery and expanded within the vessel to capture and disrupt blockages, using a mesh or braid configuration with varying aperture sizes to trap embolic material, and optionally delivering oxygenated blood to maintain tissue perfusion during the procedure.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a filter trap device is used to capture emboli, then embolic material can be trapped, but the device is cumbersome and difficult to deploy
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple segments including an expandable mesh cage with radial struts that can be collapsed for delivery and expanded at the target site. This segmentation allows the device to be delivered through a catheter in a compressed state and then deployed in situ to capture emboli effectively.
Solution Approach 2:
The expandable mesh cage is designed to be nested within a delivery catheter in a collapsed configuration, similar to nested dolls. The cage can be compressed axially and radially to fit through the catheter, then expanded at the target vessel location to perform its filtering function.
2Reliability
If a filter device with fixed aperture size is used, then large emboli can be captured, but smaller embolic particles cannot be removed
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh cage incorporates regions with different mesh densities - denser regions with smaller apertures for capturing smaller embolic particles and less dense regions with larger apertures for larger emboli. This local variation in quality allows the device to capture a broad spectrum of particle sizes simultaneously.
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes varying mesh aperture parameters across different portions of the cage structure. By changing the aperture size parameter locally, the device can adapt to capture embolic material of different sizes without requiring multiple separate devices.
3Productivity
If a thromboembolectomy device is used to capture and remove clots, then blood flow can be restored, but the procedure takes 2-3 hours and may require multiple passes
Solution Approach 1:
The device is pre-configured with an expandable mesh structure and retrieval mechanism before delivery. The expandable cage is ready to immediately capture emboli upon deployment, and the integrated retrieval system allows for single-pass removal, eliminating the need for multiple passes through the vessel.
Solution Approach 2:
The device combines the filtering, capturing, and retrieval functions into a single integrated system. The expandable mesh cage captures emboli while the device remains in place, and the integrated retrieval mechanism allows all captured material to be removed in one action, reducing overall procedure time.
4Reliability
If a device is designed to capture firm emboli held together by itself, then such material can be removed, but softer or less cohesive embolic material cannot be effectively captured
Solution Approach 1:
The device employs a porous mesh structure with interconnected openings that can accommodate emboli of varying consistency. The porous design allows softer, less cohesive embolic material to be entrapped within the mesh structure, while still maintaining the ability to capture and hold firm emboli effectively.
Data Source
AI summary
In some embodiments, a medical device for recanalizing a vessel having a blockage and restoring blood flow through an obstructed blood vessel includes an expandable member coupled to a core wire and a hypotube that are movable relative to each other to manipulate the expandable member between various configurations. The expandable member having a capture structure in an expanded configuration. The expandable member can include multiple interstices formed by woven mesh filaments or braided strands through which the material blocking the vessel can pass. The capture structure can include a shape on its external surface that facilitates dislodgement and capture of the material within capture spaces created by the expandable member. Some embodiments include a capture sack or cap for capturing material and preventing material from migrating down stream of the blockage. Superoxygenated blood can be infused distal to the blockage to minimize loss of function during an ischemic event.