Lung Preservation Pressure Control During Air Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for preserving and transporting bodily tissue, particularly lungs, are limited by time constraints due to oxygen deprivation, edema formation, and damage from pressure changes during transport, especially at varying altitudes, leading to suboptimal tissue matching and increased failure rates.
Innovation Solution
A system using pressure release valves, expandable accumulators, and compressed air to maintain a constant pressure within lungs during transport, combined with sterile containers and controlled gas exchange to prevent over-inflation and damage, while replicating the anatomical orientation of the lungs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If lungs are inflated with air and sealed during storage and transport, then the lungs maintain a desired level of inflation, but pressure changes during air transport cause over-inflation and tissue damage
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from a static sealed lung inflation approach to a dynamic pressure regulation system. A pressure regulator continuously monitors and adjusts the pressure of gas supplied to the lung, while a pressure relief valve automatically releases excess pressure when thresholds are exceeded. This dynamic control mechanism adapts to changing environmental pressures during transport, maintaining safe lung inflation levels despite altitude variations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback control through pressure sensors that continuously monitor lung pressure and provide real-time data to the pressure regulator. When pressure exceeds predetermined safety thresholds, the feedback mechanism triggers the pressure relief valve to release gas, or activates the pressure regulator to reduce supply pressure. This closed-loop feedback system ensures the lung remains inflated at appropriate levels without over-expansion damage.
2Use of energy by moving object
If hypothermic temperatures are used to preserve tissue, then oxygen demand decreases, but edema accumulates and viability time remains limited
Solution Approach 1:
The system moves beyond simple temperature-based preservation by dynamically adjusting multiple parameters: temperature (via cooling elements), gas composition (oxygen-enriched or oxygen-free environments), and pressure (to prevent edema). This multi-parameter control approach optimizes tissue metabolism and fluid balance simultaneously, extending viability beyond what hypothermic storage alone can achieve while preventing edema accumulation.
3Reliability
If sterile containers are used to separate airway environment from preservation fluid, then infection risk decreases, but pressure changes can still damage the tissue
Solution Approach 1:
The sterile container system is designed to perform multiple functions simultaneously: maintaining sterility through fluid separation, regulating pressure via integrated pressure sensors and relief valves, controlling gas composition, and monitoring lung inflation levels. This multi-functional approach ensures that the sterile barrier does not compromise pressure management capabilities, and vice versa, addressing both infection prevention and pressure damage protection in a unified system.
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
This system extends tissue viability by stabilizing pressure and maintaining a sterile environment, reducing damage from altitude changes and improving graft survival rates through controlled gas exchange and anatomical replication.
Implementation Method 1
the pressure differential between the sealed lung airways and surrounding preservation fluid and air can result in over inflation of the lung
Implementation Method 2
The expansion resistance may be provided by a spring
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods of the invention generally relate to prolonging viability of bodily tissue, especially an organ such as a lung, by adjusting pressure as needed to maintain a constant pressure within the organ even during external pressure fluctuations due, for example, to transportation of the organ in an airplane. Gas passing into and out of the organ may be conditioned to prolong tissue viability.