Iliac Side Branch Introducer for Blind Vessel Access
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for deploying stent grafts into internal iliac arteries are challenging due to the blind vessel nature of the internal iliac artery, making it difficult to access and bypass branch vessels like the internal iliac artery during minimally invasive procedures, especially when the geometry of the arteries is unfavorable.
Innovation Solution
A deployment device that allows a guide wire to be extended and snared from a contra-lateral iliac artery, enabling access to the internal iliac artery via the aortic bifurcation, with an introducer device that retains a stent graft and includes an indwelling catheter with a guide wire for deploying a side arm into the internal iliac artery, facilitating the extension of the guide wire beyond the introducer for snaring and subsequent deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a stent graft is deployed into the internal iliac artery via a femoral incision, then minimally invasive access is achieved, but the geometry of the branch vessels becomes unfavorable and access is extremely difficult
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of accessing the internal iliac artery from the femoral incision (conventional approach), the patent inverts the approach by accessing it from the aortic bifurcation. The introducer device is deployed from the aorta, and the guide wire is extended through the aortic bifurcation to reach the internal iliac artery, thereby achieving favorable geometry and simplified access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary structure - the aortic bifurcation - as a mediator between the femoral access point and the internal iliac artery. The introducer device and guide wire system act as intermediaries that enable traversal through the aortic bifurcation to reach the internal iliac artery with favorable geometry.
2Ease of operation
If the internal iliac artery is accessed as a blind vessel from the common iliac artery, then endovascular access is possible, but the procedure becomes highly dependent on favorable artery layout
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the conventional access approach by entering the internal iliac artery from the aortic bifurcation rather than from the common iliac artery. This reversal of the access direction eliminates the dependence on favorable artery layout, as the aortic bifurcation provides a consistent and reliable entry point regardless of the specific anatomical variations in the iliac artery system.
3Ease of operation
If a guide wire is extended beyond the introducer for snaring from contra-lateral iliac artery, then access via aortic bifurcation is enabled, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the introducer device into distinct functional components: the introducer body, the indwelling catheter, and the guide wire system. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function independently - the introducer provides access, the catheter maintains the pathway, and the guide wire enables navigation and snaring - thereby managing complexity through functional decomposition.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a nested structure where the guide wire is contained within the indwelling catheter, which in turn is contained within the introducer device. This nesting arrangement allows for compact packaging and systematic deployment, where each nested component can be advanced or manipulated independently while maintaining the integrity of the overall system.
Data Source
AI summary
An introduction arrangement for a fenestrated or branched stent graft (13) intended for deployment into the lumen of a vessel having a blind vessel extending from it. The introducer (1) has a distal end intended to remain outside a patient in use and a proximal end with a nose cone dilator (11) and an arrangement to retain the branched stent graft distally of the nose cone dilator. A sheath (15) on the introducer extends over the branched stent graft to the nose cone dilator. An indwelling catheter (22) extends from the distal end of the introducer and enters the fenestration or side arm and through to the nose cone dilator, the indwelling catheter has a guide wire (29) extending through it. The guide wire can be extended beyond the nose cone dilator in use before the sheath is withdrawn from the branched stent graft so that it can be snared from the contra-lateral artery.