Transcatheter Heart Valve Flow Washout to Reduce Thrombosis
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing prosthetic heart valves face challenges such as blood stagnation leading to thrombosis, paravalvular leakage, and difficulty in securing to intralumenal tissue without causing disturbances to the heart's native conduction system, particularly in minimally invasive procedures.
Innovation Solution
A prosthetic valve design featuring a valve frame with cantilevered support arms and an outer sealing frame that emulates a surgical valve structure, allowing for improved blood flow and anchoring, with features like unobstructed openings between support arms to reduce thrombus formation and a sealing frame that engages the native valve to enhance securement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a replacement valve is designed to block blood flow, then valve function is improved, but blood stagnation occurs leading to thrombosis formation
Solution Approach 1:
The valve frame is divided into multiple segments including a main body and multiple arms extending from it. The arms are spaced apart to create open spaces that allow blood flow to pass through, preventing stagnation in the spaces between structural elements while maintaining effective valve closure function
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the valve structure have different properties: the main body and arms provide structural support and flow direction, while the spaces between arms are designed to be open and unobstructed to promote continuous blood flow and prevent thrombus formation in those specific localized areas
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a minimally invasive replacement valve is delivered percutaneously, then patient trauma is reduced, but difficulty arises in securing the valve to intralumenal tissue without disturbing the heart's native conduction system
Solution Approach 1:
The valve structure is segmented into a main body and multiple arms that can be positioned and secured independently. The arms can be expanded or adjusted to engage with intralumenal tissue at specific locations, providing secure anchoring while allowing selective positioning away from sensitive conduction system areas
Solution Approach 2:
The valve is designed to be delivered in a compressed or collapsed state through the catheter, then expanded at the target site. This preliminary compression allows minimally invasive delivery, while the subsequent expansion provides secure anchoring to tissue without requiring open surgical access
Data Source
AI summary
A prosthetic valve includes a valve frame, an outer sealing frame, and leaflets positioned about a flow channel. Each leaflet includes two commissure ends, and a central portion positioned between the commissure ends. The leaflets are attached to form commissure regions at which commissure ends meet. The commissure regions are affixed to the valve frame, which provides openings between the commissure regions. The outer sealing frame is coupled to the valve frame such that (i) the downstream portion is spaced radially outward from the valve frame to engage and seal against the native atrioventricular valve while defining a gap between the downstream portion and the valve frame, and (ii) ventricular blood passes along radially outward facing surfaces of the leaflets and through the openings into the gap in a manner that washes out the downstream portion to reduce thrombus formation. Other implementations are also disclosed.