Self-Expandable GI Compartments With Timed Disintegration Seals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Effective and targeted delivery of active agents to the gastrointestinal tract is challenging due to mucus secretions, requiring mucoadhesive components, and ensuring controlled deployment and evacuation of devices to avoid obstruction.
Innovation Solution
Self-expandable devices with compartments connected by water-disintegrable sealing zones, allowing controlled disintegration and evacuation by designing compartments to absorb liquids, facilitating deployment and breakdown into smaller fragments for easy removal.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If deployable devices are used to deliver mucoadhesive components to tissue, then contact time between tissue and active agent is improved, but device obstruction of GI tract may occur
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into multiple compartments that can be delivered separately and deployed sequentially. Each compartment contains mucoadhesive components that can be delivered to the tissue without requiring the entire device to remain in place, thereby maintaining contact time while reducing obstruction risk through segmented evacuation
Solution Approach 2:
The device utilizes changes in physical parameters (swelling of gel-forming material upon liquid contact) to trigger deployment and subsequent controlled disintegration. This allows the device to transition from a deployed state that maintains contact to a disintegrating state that facilitates evacuation, resolving the contradiction between maintaining contact time and preventing obstruction
2Reliability
If device is designed to maintain structural integrity during deployment, then deployment reliability is improved, but controlled disintegration after deployment becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the device are assigned different material properties: the compartment walls use water-insoluble deformable films for structural integrity during deployment, while the sealing zones use water-disintegrable sealing compositions for controlled disintegration after deployment. This local differentiation of material qualities resolves the contradiction between maintaining structural integrity and enabling controlled disintegration
Solution Approach 2:
The device is pre-configured with sealing zones that have different water solubility characteristics than the compartment walls. This preliminary design ensures that upon contact with liquid in the GI tract, the device first maintains integrity for reliable deployment, then subsequently disintegrates in a controlled manner after the deployment function is completed
3Adaptability or versatility
If water-disintegrable sealing composition is used to bond compartments, then controlled disintegration is achieved, but mechanical stability during expansion may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The sealing zones are designed with localized water-disintegrable sealing compositions that provide controlled disintegration capability only where needed for device breakdown, while the majority of the compartment structure maintains water-insoluble deformable films that provide mechanical stability during expansion. This local application of different material qualities resolves the contradiction between achieving controlled disintegration and maintaining mechanical stability
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs composite construction with water-insoluble deformable films for structural integrity and water-disintegrable sealing compositions for controlled disintegration. This composite material approach allows the device to exhibit both mechanical stability during deployment and controlled disintegration after deployment, resolving the contradiction between these two requirements
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 controlled delivery and adherence of active agents to gastrointestinal tissues with controlled disintegration and evacuation, ensuring effective and safe device removal.
Implementation Method 1
a gel forming material within said enclosed space, the gel forming material being configured for swelling upon contact with liquid, thereby expanding the compartment to irreversibly switch the device from the collapsed state to the expanded state
Implementation Method 2
the water-disintegrable sealing composition provides mechanical stability to the sealing zones during transition of the device from the collapsed state to the expanded state, and has water-solubility configured to provide controlled disintegration of the sealing zones after the device is expanded into the expanded state
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure concerns expandable devices, specifically self-deployed devices that are designed to be delivered to and deployed in the gastrointestinal tract and configured for controlled disintegration. The devices contain expandable compartments separated by sealing zones that are designed for controlled disintegration upon exposure to liquid, thereby permitting controlled disintegration of the device after a pre-defined time from deployment.