Jointed Membrane Rotor Blades for Compressible Pump Deployment
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing compressible and expandable rotors for fluid pumps, particularly in medical applications, face challenges in achieving a simple, reliable, durable, and cost-effective design that allows for easy deployment and efficient operation.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates struts with joints that allow angling in one direction and are spaced apart from the hub, enabling the rotor to be easily folded or rolled up for deployment and expanded for operation, utilizing fluid counter-pressure and centrifugal forces for efficient operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the rotor is designed to be compressible and expandable for deployment in difficult access areas, then the adaptability is improved, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The conveying blade employs a membrane structure that can be folded and compressed, allowing the rotor to be introduced in a compressed state through blood vessels and then expanded at the implantation site. The membrane spans between struts and can be folded together with the struts, enabling compact storage and easy deployment without complex mechanical components.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotor is divided into multiple conveying blades, each comprising struts and a membrane. This segmentation allows each blade to be independently compressed and folded, facilitating the overall compression of the rotor for introduction through catheters while maintaining structural integrity during deployment.
2Ease of operation
If joints are spaced apart from the hub to allow angling and folding, then the ease of operation is improved, but the manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The joints are specifically positioned at spaced intervals along the struts rather than uniformly distributed, creating local flexibility zones that enable folding while maintaining overall structural stability. This localized joint placement allows the conveying blade to be folded together with minimal interference from the hub, reducing manufacturing precision requirements compared to uniform joint distribution.
3Ease of manufacture
If the rotor design is simplified for ease of manufacture, then the ease of manufacture is improved, but the reliability may worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The membrane structure replaces complex rigid mechanical components, significantly simplifying manufacturing while ensuring reliable operation. The membrane can be fabricated using standard techniques and provides sufficient structural support when tensioned between the struts during operation, maintaining reliability without requiring complex assembly procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The conveying blade transitions from a compressed folded state during introduction to an expanded operational state at the implantation site. This dynamic transformation allows a simple compact structure to become a functional pumping element, ensuring reliability through the operational configuration rather than through complex fixed structures.
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 solution enables efficient deployment and operation of the rotor with minimal counter-forces, ensuring high flexibility, reliability, and ease of manufacturing, while maintaining a compact form for difficult access applications.
Implementation Method 1
with the force required for a further deformation/elongation, however, rising steeply on a reaching of the elongation angle
Implementation Method 2
utilizing fluid counter-pressure and centrifugal forces for efficient operation
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a simple embodiment of a rotor for a fluid pump which is nevertheless very flexible in handling and compressible, in accordance with the invention a conveying blade is provided having at least two struts and a membrane spanned between them in the expanded state, wherein the struts each have at least one joint, in particular more than one joint, which enables an angling in a first direction in a first movement plane and bounds an overelongation beyond an elongation angle of in particular 180° in the opposite second direction. In particular when a plurality of joints are provided at the struts, they, and with them the conveying blades, are particularly flexible for simple compressibility.