Intraluminal Retrieval System for Implanted Medical Devices
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for removing implanted medical devices from body vessels often require open surgery, especially when devices are improperly deployed or positioned, posing risks to surrounding tissue.
Innovation Solution
An intraluminal system with a grasping component and radially expandable sheaths allows for the safe retrieval of implanted medical devices by collapsing them to a low-profile configuration, using deployable arms and barbed expandable portions to securely grasp and remove the devices without damaging surrounding tissue.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If open surgery is used to retrieve an implanted medical device, then the device can be removed, but surrounding tissue is damaged and the procedure becomes more invasive
Solution Approach 1:
The retrieval system employs a nested structure with multiple sheaths (first sheath, second sheath) containing each other, allowing the entire retrieval apparatus to be delivered through a single vascular access point. The grasping component is nested within the first sheath, which is nested within the second sheath, enabling minimally invasive delivery while maintaining full functionality for device retrieval without open surgery
Solution Approach 2:
The expandable sheath acts as an intermediary mechanism between the retrieval system and the implanted device. When expanded, it provides a secure interface for grasping and stabilizing the device during retrieval, allowing the system to safely manipulate and remove the device without directly contacting surrounding tissue with forceful grasping mechanisms
2Object-affected harmful factors
If a retrieval system with expandable sheaths and deployable arms is used, then device retrieval can be performed without open surgery, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The retrieval system is divided into distinct functional segments: a grasping component with deployable arms for device engagement, a first sheath with an expandable portion for stabilization, and a second sheath for delivery and collapse. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently while maintaining overall system manageability despite the increased complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The retrieval system incorporates dynamic elements including deployable arms that can extend and retract, and an expandable sheath that can transition between compressed and expanded states. These dynamic features allow the system to adapt its configuration during delivery and retrieval operations, enabling complex functions to be achieved through controlled mechanical transformations rather than permanently complex structures
3Ease of operation
If the grasping component with deployable arms is deployed, then it can grasp the distal portion of the device, but the profile increases during deployment
Solution Approach 1:
The deployable arms transition from a low-profile retracted configuration during delivery to an extended grasping configuration when needed. This dynamic transformation allows the system to maintain a small delivery profile while achieving full grasping functionality when deployed, resolving the contradiction between operational capability and profile size
Solution Approach 2:
The deployable arms are nested within the first sheath during delivery, maintaining a low profile. When deployment is required, the arms extend outward from the sheath to grasp the device. After use, they can be retracted back into the sheath, allowing the system to transition between compact and functional states as needed
Data Source
AI summary
An intraluminal system for retrieving an implantable medical device from a body vessel includes, according to one embodiment, a grasping component including at least one deployable arm, where a proximal end of the arm is configured to extend away from a longitudinal axis of the system when deployed, and a first sheath disposed adjacent to the grasping component, where the first sheath includes a radially expandable portion at a distal end thereof. A second sheath overlies the first sheath and the grasping component. Relative motion between the second sheath and the grasping component allows the proximal end of the deployable arm to be deployed for grasping a distal portion of an implantable medical device, and relative motion between the second sheath and the first sheath allows the expandable portion of the first sheath to radially expand to receive a proximal portion of the implantable medical device.