Heart Support Device with Dynamic Volume Body and Stiffening Wall
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current heart support devices fail to provide effective, minimally invasive circulatory assistance and structural support for patients with weakened heart walls due to ischemia or post-ischemic damage, leading to high mortality rates and complications like ventricular aneurysms.
Innovation Solution
A heart support device with an internal dynamic volume body and expandable wall strengthening portion that engages the heart's inner surface, combined with an external shell element for stabilization, providing circulatory assistance and preventing aneurysm protrusion through cyclical inflation and deflation, and positioning members for secure fixation within the heart.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a heart support device is implanted through invasive surgery, then effective circulatory assistance and structural support can be provided, but patient morbidity and procedural complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The heart support device is divided into separate functional components: an external shell element for structural support, positioning members for fixation, and a dynamic volume body for circulatory assistance. This segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies the implantation process by enabling staged deployment through catheter-based delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
A catheter serves as an intermediary delivery system that enables minimally invasive implantation of the device components. The catheter guides the collapsed device through blood vessels to the target location, eliminating the need for open heart surgery while ensuring precise positioning before deployment.
2Strength
If the wall strengthening portion is made rigid to provide structural support, then aneurysm prevention improves, but irritation to the heart's inner surface increases
Solution Approach 1:
The wall strengthening portion transitions from a rigid collapsed state during delivery to an expanded state that provides structural support. The dynamic volume body can inflate and deflate cyclically to assist pumping while the expanded wall strengthening portion maintains a rigid structure for aneurysm prevention without continuous contact irritation.
Solution Approach 2:
The device employs flexible membranes and thin-walled structures that can conform to the heart's inner surface geometry. These flexible components provide the necessary structural support while adapting to the contours of the heart, minimizing localized pressure points and reducing irritation to the endocardium.
3Productivity
If the dynamic volume body is inflated to assist pumping action, then circulatory assistance improves, but the risk of excessive pressure on heart tissue increases
Solution Approach 1:
The pressure and volume parameters of the dynamic volume body are dynamically adjusted based on the cardiac cycle phase. The system modulates inflation pressure to provide assistive force during systole while maintaining lower pressures during diastole, optimizing pumping efficiency while preventing tissue damage. The wall strengthening portion's expansion state also regulates pressure distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The device incorporates sensing mechanisms that monitor pressure, volume, and cardiac function parameters in real-time. This feedback information is used to dynamically adjust the inflation/deflation cycle of the dynamic volume body, ensuring that pressure assistance is applied only when beneficial and preventing excessive pressure that could damage heart tissue.
4Stability of the object's composition
If positioning members are used to secure the device, then device stability improves, but irritation to the heart wall increases
Solution Approach 1:
The positioning members are designed with differentiated local properties: arc-shaped segments that conform to the heart wall curvature distribute contact forces over larger areas, reducing localized irritation. The positioning members engage only at specific anatomical landmarks necessary for stability, minimizing overall contact area and associated irritation while maintaining secure fixation.
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 reduces mortality rates, stabilizes ischemic cardiac tissue, prevents aneurysm growth, and compensates for heart failure by providing continuous structural support and circulatory assistance, while minimizing irritation to the heart's inner surface.
Implementation Method 1
a dynamic member (9) is provided that is inflatable to assist pumping action in the heart (10)
Implementation Method 2
The wall strengthening portion (8) is expandable, which allows the wall strengthening portion to conform to the inner wall surface of the heart
Implementation Method 3
the wall strengthening portion comprises an inflatable cup shaped body, so that the wall strengthening portion can be conveniently expanded by supplying a gas or fluid thereto
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Heart support device for circulatory assistance, with an internal member (6) to be disposed inside a heart lumen (13) and having a dynamic volume body. The internal member (6) has a substantially stiff wall strengthening portion (8) arranged to engage an inner wall surface (12a) of the heart (10) in operation and a dynamic member (9) that is inflatable to assist pumping action of the heart (10).