Intravascular Filter Magnetic Arm Emboli Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current intravascular filters lack a reliable, non-invasive method to monitor their status for emboli accumulation, which can lead to reduced blood flow and increased risk of embolic stroke, as they are typically permanent implants with no straightforward way to determine when they become filled with debris.
Innovation Solution
An intravascular device with a filter basket and a flexible arm containing a magnetic element that moves in response to blood flow, allowing an external detector to sense changes indicative of emboli capture, enabling timely intervention by generating a signal that can be detected externally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a permanent intravascular filter implant is used to capture emboli, then embolic protection is improved, but monitoring of filter status becomes difficult and invasive
Solution Approach 1:
A magnetic element is introduced as an intermediary component attached to the flexible arm within the filter structure. This magnetic element mediates between the internal filter status and external detection by interacting with an external magnetometer, enabling non-invasive monitoring of emboli capture without compromising the filter's protective function
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces invasive mechanical monitoring methods with a magnetic field-based detection system. Instead of requiring physical access or surgical intervention to assess filter status, the system uses magnetic field interactions between the implanted magnetic element and external magnetometer to detect changes in flexible arm position indicating emboli capture
2Device complexity
If no monitoring mechanism is included in the filter, then device complexity is reduced, but timely intervention for filled filters cannot be made
Solution Approach 1:
The system establishes a feedback loop where the magnetic element's position on the flexible arm provides continuous information about filter status. As emboli are captured and blood flow changes, the flexible arm moves, changing the magnetic element's position and the resulting magnetic field signal provides feedback about the degree of filter occlusion, enabling timely intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The patent monitors changes in magnetic field parameters (strength, orientation) as the flexible arm moves in response to emboli capture. These parameter changes in the magnetic signal correlate with filter status, allowing differentiation between empty and filled filter states without adding complex mechanical monitoring mechanisms
3Quantity of substance
If large thromboemboli cause rapid filter filling, then embolic protection function is overwhelmed, but non-invasive monitoring enables detection of rapid filling
Solution Approach 1:
The magnetic monitoring system enables preliminary detection of filter filling before complete occlusion occurs. By continuously tracking magnetic field changes that indicate flexible arm movement, the system can alert clinicians to impending filter saturation, allowing proactive intervention to maintain blood flow before the filter becomes completely blocked by large thromboemboli
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
Enables regular, non-invasive monitoring of filter status, allowing for timely intervention to prevent reduced blood flow and embolic events, using a portable detector that produces minimal radiation and correlates emboli presence with blood flow changes.
Implementation Method 1
a magnetic element being disposed at the second end of the flexible arm such that movement of the flexible arm is indicative of capture of emboli within the filter portion
Data Source
AI summary
An intravascular filter device having a flexible arm which comprises a portion of an alarm system for detecting filling or plugging of the filter by captured emboli is described. The flexible arm may be made of ferromagnetic material, a magnet, or have at its tip a magnet which, as it moves under systolic and diastolic pressures, generates a signal detectable by an electrical sensor or a magnetometer. The signals from each of a pair of artery filters may be measured and compared to determine whether one filter is plugged. A system for detection and a method of use are also provided.