LAA Docking Station With Modular Cardiac Treatment Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing medical implants for the left atrial appendage (LAA) face challenges in safely creating additional space within the heart for treatment or monitoring without affecting heart function, and there is a need for modular adjustment and replacement of active elements.
Innovation Solution
A device with a docking station anchored in the LAA and a modular active element that can be detached and replaced, allowing for various treatment or sensing operations, including ablation, drug delivery, and parameter sensing, with a recessed socket for detachable engagement and a radially expansible element for fluid isolation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a catheter-based device is implanted in the LAA to treat or monitor the heart, then treatment or monitoring capability is provided, but the space within the beating heart becomes occupied and may affect heart function
Solution Approach 1:
The device is divided into two separate components: a docking station permanently implanted in the LAA that occupies minimal space, and a modular active element that can be attached or detached as needed. This segmentation allows the system to provide treatment or monitoring capability only when the active element is attached, leaving the LAA space available for normal blood flow during periods when the active element is removed.
Solution Approach 2:
The device transitions from a static implanted structure to a dynamic system where the modular active element can be attached to or detached from the docking station. This dynamic configuration allows the device to adapt between providing treatment/monitoring functions and allowing unobstructed blood flow through the LAA, resolving the contradiction between functionality and space occupation.
2Reliability
If a fixed implant device is placed in the LAA, then stable anchoring is achieved, but modular adjustment and replacement of active elements is not possible
Solution Approach 1:
The device separates the anchoring function (docking station) from the active treatment/monitoring function (modular active element). The docking station provides stable, permanent anchoring in the LAA, while the modular active element can be independently attached or detached. This segmentation enables both reliable anchoring and modular adjustment without compromising either function.
Solution Approach 2:
The docking station serves as a universal platform that can accommodate different types of modular active elements (treatment devices, sensing devices, or combinations). This multi-functionality allows the same anchored structure to support various therapeutic or diagnostic functions, providing both stability and adaptability.
3Reliability
If the LAA is completely occluded to isolate it from the left atrium, then fluid isolation is achieved, but access to the LAA for treatment or sensing operations is blocked
Solution Approach 1:
The device segments the LAA into two zones: a proximal portion that remains accessible from the left atrium through the recessed socket, and a distal portion that is occluded for isolation. This segmentation allows simultaneous fluid isolation of the LAA from the left atrium while maintaining a controlled access pathway for delivering and removing modular active elements.
Solution Approach 2:
The recessed socket acts as an intermediary structure that provides a controlled access pathway through the occluding means. It allows modular active elements to be delivered to and removed from the LAA while maintaining the overall fluid isolation, resolving the contradiction between isolation and accessibility.
4Device complexity
If a non-modular implant device is used in the LAA, then device complexity is reduced, but the ability to perform different treatment or monitoring operations is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The device architecture segments the permanent implanted portion (docking station) from the interchangeable active elements. The docking station maintains a simple, fixed structure with minimal complexity, while the modular active elements provide the versatility for different treatment or monitoring operations. This segmentation allows the system to achieve adaptability without significantly increasing the complexity of the implanted structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a static, fixed-function implant to a dynamic configuration where different modular active elements can be attached to the simple docking station structure. This dynamic approach enables multiple treatment or monitoring operations using a consistently simple implanted platform, resolving the contradiction between device simplicity and operational versatility.
Data Source
Figure 1A~1B
Figure 1C~1D
Figure 1E~1F
AI summary
A device for implantation in a left atrial appendage of the heart comprises docking station comprising a radially expansible element that is adjustable between a contracted orientation suitable for transluminal delivery and a deployed orientation configured to anchor within the left atrial appendage and fluidically isolate the left atrial appendage from the left atrium, the docking station also includes a recessed socket accessible from the left atrium through an opening, and a closure coving the opening. A modular active element is configured for detachable engagement within the recessed socket of the docking station. The modular active element comprises a treatment element configured to electrically stimulate heart tissue, thermally stimulate heart tissue, electroporate heart tissue, or deliver a substance into heart tissue or a chamber of the heart, or a sensing element configured to detect a parameter selected from temperature, pressure, electrical signal, heart rate, or respiratory rate.