Flat Embolic Braid Loops for Wide-Neck Aneurysm Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing embolic devices, particularly coils, tend to migrate out of aneurysm sacs, especially in wide-neck aneurysms, due to their design and material properties, which can lead to ineffective occlusion and increased risk of rupture.
Innovation Solution
An embolic device formed from an elongate flat member that transitions from a constrained configuration for delivery to a three-dimensional unconstrained configuration within the aneurysm, featuring a plurality of successive loops twisted about its longitudinal axis, ensuring the first side surface faces externally and the second side surface faces internally, thereby stabilizing the device within the aneurysm.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional embolic coils are used, then the device can be delivered through a catheter, but the device migrates out of the aneurysm sac
Solution Approach 1:
The embolic device transitions from a two-dimensional compressed state during delivery to a three-dimensional expanded configuration with multiple loops and twists within the aneurysm sac. This dimensional transformation allows the device to engage the aneurysm walls more effectively and prevent migration while maintaining deliverability through the catheter.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates curved and twisted loop structures that conform to the spherical or balloon-like configuration of the aneurysm sac. These curved geometries enable the device to engage the aneurysm walls and maintain stable positioning, preventing migration while filling the aneurysm space effectively.
2Ease of operation
If the embolic device is made from self-expanding materials, then the device can expand automatically upon delivery, but the device lacks precise control over expansion timing and location
Solution Approach 1:
The device incorporates a delivery catheter system that acts as an intermediary to control the expansion process. The catheter maintains the device in a compressed state during navigation and allows controlled deployment at the target location, providing precise spatial and temporal control over expansion while utilizing self-expanding materials.
3Ease of manufacture
If the embolic device uses a simple coil structure, then the device is easy to manufacture, but the device cannot effectively occlude wide-neck aneurysms
Solution Approach 1:
The embolic device is segmented into multiple loops and twists along its length, creating a more complex structure than a simple coil. This segmentation allows the device to better engage wide-neck aneurysms by distributing contact points along the aneurysm walls while maintaining manufacturability through standardized formation processes.
4Strength
If the embolic device is made from metal materials, then the device has high strength and rigidity, but the device lacks flexibility and biodegradability
Solution Approach 1:
The device utilizes shape memory materials that can change their physical parameters such as rigidity and flexibility in response to temperature changes. The device is delivered in a rigid, compressed state, then transforms to a flexible, expanded state upon exposure to body temperature, providing both structural integrity during delivery and adaptability within the aneurysm.
Solution Approach 2:
The embolic device employs composite material structures combining different material properties, such as shape memory alloys or polymers with varying degradation rates. This allows the device to exhibit both strength and flexibility, and potentially provides controlled biodegradability while maintaining structural integrity during the treatment period.
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 device effectively occludes the aneurysm by engaging the internal walls without causing damage, reducing the risk of rupture and migration, and can be made from biocompatible materials like metallic filaments or wires, ensuring secure deployment and expansion.
Implementation Method 1
Self-expanding embolic devices may be biased so as to expand upon release from the delivery catheter
Implementation Method 2
include a shape-memory component which allows the device to expand upon exposure to a predetermined condition
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~8B
AI summary
A flat embolic braid having a first side comprising a first side surface, and a second side comprising a second side surface facing in an opposite direction than the first side surface, the braid having an elongated constrained configuration for being deployed through a delivery catheter, and a three-dimensional unconstrained configuration, wherein in the three-dimensional unconstrained configuration, the braid assumes a plurality of successive loops in which the braid is at least partially twisted between successive loops of the plurality, so that the first side surface faces externally of each loop, and the second side surface faces an interior of each loop, respectively, regardless of a change in direction and/or orientation of the braid.