Attachable Heart Valve Delivery Components With Bearing-Locked Coupling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical devices for delivering implantable heart valves are often invasive and require significant recovery times, and there is a need for less invasive methods and devices for diagnosing, treating, and repairing cardiovascular conditions.
Innovation Solution
A medical device system with a connection assembly featuring an inner shaft, support shaft, bearings, and a locking cap that allows for percutaneous delivery and deployment of implantable heart valves, utilizing a connection assembly with apertures, grooves, and bearings for secure engagement and disengagement configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If traditional surgical methods are used for heart valve replacement, then structural integrity and reliability are ensured, but patient trauma and recovery time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The medical device is divided into multiple separable components including an inner shaft, outer shaft, coupling member, and locking cap that can be assembled and delivered separately through catheter-based access, enabling minimally invasive delivery while maintaining overall device reliability through precise component integration
Solution Approach 2:
The inner shaft is nested within the outer shaft, and the coupling member is nested within the locking cap, allowing the entire assembly to be delivered through a small catheter access point while maintaining structural integrity during delivery and deployment
2Reliability
If the connection assembly uses multiple components for secure engagement, then connection reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The coupling member is pre-configured with bearing apertures and the locking cap is pre-configured with corresponding locking features, allowing for straightforward assembly where components are simply engaged together without complex alignment procedures, maintaining connection reliability while minimizing assembly complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The bearing apertures in the coupling member are positioned to align with the groove in the inner shaft, creating a naturally aligned engagement interface that simplifies the assembly process while ensuring reliable mechanical connection through the bearing engagement
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the device is designed for percutaneous delivery, then patient trauma is reduced, but navigating tortuous anatomy becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The inner and outer shafts are designed with flexible construction that allows them to bend and conform to tortuous vascular anatomy while maintaining structural integrity, enabling percutaneous delivery through difficult-to-reach locations without increasing patient trauma
Solution Approach 2:
The shafts are designed to be dynamically flexible during navigation, allowing the device to adapt to the vascular pathway, and become relatively more rigid during deployment to ensure precise positioning and secure heart valve implantation
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 less invasive delivery and deployment of implantable heart valves, reducing patient trauma and recovery time while maintaining structural integrity and flexibility for navigating tortuous anatomy.
Implementation Method 1
a plurality of bearings, wherein each bearing is disposed in a respective aperture of the plurality of apertures, and wherein a portion of each bearing is also disposed in a portion of the groove when the connection assembly is in the engaged configuration
Data Source
AI summary
An example system for delivering an implantable heart valve is disclosed. The system includes a connection assembly including: an inner shaft having a proximal end region, a distal end region and a first coupling member disposed along a portion of the distal end region, wherein the first coupling member includes a plurality of apertures. The connection assembly also includes a support shaft and a second coupling member, wherein the second coupling member includes a stem, wherein the stem includes a groove extending circumferentially around the stem. The connection assembly also includes a plurality of bearings, wherein a portion of each bearing is disposed in a portion of the groove. The connection assembly also includes a locking cap coupled to the inner shaft, wherein a portion of the locking cap is configured to cover at least a portion of each of the plurality of bearings.