Expandable Vaginal Pessary with Segmented Rib Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current non-surgical vaginal devices for treating pelvic organ prolapse, such as pessaries, face challenges in effectively supporting prolapsed organs and maintaining comfort while preventing fluid buildup and infections, as they often fail to provide adequate support and can lead to complications like fluid accumulation and malodors.
Innovation Solution
A vaginal pessary with a ring-like body that expands to contact vaginal walls, featuring a support element with moveable arms or inflatable components, designed to alleviate prolapse by stretching the vaginal wall and maintaining an expanded configuration through locking mechanisms, allowing for easy insertion and removal while accommodating vaginal fluids.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a pessary is designed to expand within the vagina to support prolapsed organs, then the support effectiveness is improved, but the device complexity increases due to the need for expansion mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The pessary body is divided into multiple rib sections that can independently expand and contact different areas of the vaginal wall, providing distributed support while maintaining structural manageability
Solution Approach 2:
The pessary transitions from a compact inserted state to an expanded support state through mechanical deformation, allowing the same structure to provide different functions at different stages
2Reliability
If the pessary body is made rigid to provide adequate support for prolapsed organs, then the support effectiveness is improved, but the ease of insertion deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pessary is designed to be flexible during insertion and then rigidified in the deployed position, allowing easy insertion followed by effective support
Solution Approach 2:
The structural parameters of the pessary change from a flexible compact state suitable for insertion to a rigid expanded state suitable for support, through controlled mechanical transformation
3Reliability
If the pessary is designed to maintain an expanded configuration to prevent fluid buildup, then the reliability is improved, but the ease of removal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The pessary maintains a stable expanded configuration for support and fluid prevention, but can be dynamically collapsed back to a compact state for easy removal through a release mechanism
4Reliability
If the ring-like body is expanded to contact vaginal walls for support, then the support effectiveness is improved, but the volume of the device increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pessary uses multiple rib sections that expand outward to contact vaginal walls, distributing the support function across segmented structures rather than requiring a solid volumetric form
Solution Approach 2:
The pessary employs thin-walled expandable structures that provide structural support through geometric configuration rather than material volume, minimizing device volume while maintaining support effectiveness
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are devices for supporting a prolapsed organ. An exemplary device comprises a ring-like body optionally having a naturally occurring substantially flat and substantially planar compact configuration, the ring-like body configured with a size suitable for insertion into a vagina and to be expanded by a support element such that in the expanded configuration an outer periphery of the ring-like body contacts a portion of the vagina and stretches at least a portion of a prolapsed vaginal wall, thereby substantially alleviating prolapse of at least one pelvic organ. The device optionally includes a support element comprising two moveably connected arms configured to support the ring in the expanded configuration.