Implantable Cardiac Pacing Device With Elastic Fixation Fingers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional implantable cardiac pacemakers with elongate lead wires face mechanical complications and MRI compatibility issues, necessitating the development of compact devices that can be implanted close to the pacing site without the need for external leads.
Innovation Solution
A relatively compact implantable medical device with a fixation member comprising elastically deformable fingers around its distal end, which can be extended for delivery and compressed to wedge between tissue surfaces, ensuring intimate contact with a cardiac pacing electrode.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If traditional implantable cardiac pacemakers with elongate lead wires are used, then the device can be implanted remotely from the heart, but mechanical complications and MRI compatibility issues occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the elongate lead wires from the traditional pacemaker system, extracting the problematic component that causes mechanical complications and MRI incompatibility. The pulse generator is repositioned to implant near the pacing site, eliminating the need for long lead wires that traverse through veins and connect to electrodes at the heart.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines the pulse generator and electrode functions into a single integrated device that can be implanted together as one unit. The fixation fingers are integrated with the pulse generator housing, creating a unified implantable system that eliminates the separate lead wire component.
2Reliability
If the device is implanted close to the pacing site without external leads, then mechanical complications and MRI compatibility issues are reduced, but secure fixation at the implant site becomes challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation fingers are designed with elastic deformability, allowing them to dynamically change shape during implantation. They extend outward during delivery to engage tissue, then compress against the housing when the device is positioned, providing adaptive fixation that responds to implantation forces.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixation fingers are constructed as flexible, elastically deformable structures that can bend and compress. This flexibility allows them to be compressed against the pulse generator housing while maintaining engagement with tissue surfaces, providing secure fixation without rigid components.
3Ease of operation
If fixation fingers are made elastically deformable for delivery and fixation, then secure implantation is achieved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation member is segmented into multiple individual fingers spaced around the distal end of the housing. Each finger acts as an independent elastic element, simplifying the overall structure while providing distributed fixation points that enhance securing capability.
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 allows for secure implantation close to the pacing site without external leads, reducing mechanical complications and enhancing MRI compatibility, while maintaining effective pacing stimulation.
Implementation Method 1
each finger is elastically deformable from a relaxed condition to an extended condition, to accommodate delivery of the device to a target implant site, and from the relaxed condition to a compressed condition, to accommodate wedging of the fingers between opposing tissue surfaces
Data Source
AI summary
A relatively compact implantable medical device includes a fixation member formed by a plurality of fingers mounted around a perimeter of a distal end of a housing of the device; each finger is elastically deformable from a relaxed condition to an extended condition, to accommodate delivery of the device to a target implant site, and from the relaxed condition to a compressed condition, to accommodate wedging of the fingers between opposing tissue surfaces at the target implant site, wherein the compressed fingers hold a cardiac pacing electrode of the device in intimate tissue contact for the delivery of pacing stimulation to the site. Each fixation finger is preferably configured to prevent penetration thereof within the tissue when the fingers are compressed and wedged between the opposing tissue surfaces. The pacing electrode may be mounted on a pacing extension, which extends distally from the distal end of the device housing.