Percutaneous Lung Volume Reduction via Airway Constriction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Emphysema treatment methods, such as lung volume reduction surgery, are invasive and unsuitable for all patients due to associated complications, and minimally invasive procedures face challenges in effectively reducing diseased lung tissue volume to improve pulmonary function.
Innovation Solution
A percutaneously insertable lung volume reduction system with a delivery element that applies compressive force to constrict airways and collapse targeted emphysematous lung tissue, using devices like pegs, clamps, elastic bands, or bags to isolate and compress diseased tissue, reducing its volume and preventing air influx, which can lead to necrosis over time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If lung volume reduction surgery is performed to remove diseased portions of the lungs, then pulmonary function and survival rate are improved, but surgical complications and invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and removes diseased lung tissue through percutaneous access points, delivering constriction elements directly to targeted emphysematous regions without requiring open surgical incisions. This extraction approach eliminates harmful diseased tissue while minimizing trauma to the patient's body, resolving the contradiction between effective disease treatment and surgical complication reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces constriction elements as intermediary devices that are delivered through the skin surface into the lung tissue. These elements serve as mediators to achieve the therapeutic effect of tissue removal and functional improvement without requiring direct surgical intervention. The intermediary device enables treatment of deep lung regions while maintaining percutaneous access, thus reducing surgical complications while improving pulmonary function
2Object-affected harmful factors
If minimally invasive procedures are used to deposit devices in the lungs, then surgical complications are reduced, but effectiveness in reducing diseased tissue volume may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs nested delivery systems where constriction elements are delivered within catheters or delivery devices that are inserted percutaneously. The constriction elements are nested within the delivery system during insertion, then deployed at the target site. This nested approach enables minimally invasive access while ensuring effective delivery of the therapeutic device to achieve substantial diseased tissue volume reduction
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by delivering and positioning constriction elements within the lung tissue before actual tissue collapse occurs. The elements are pre-positioned to constrict specific airways or tissue regions, ensuring that when the elements are activated or expanded, they immediately begin the process of volume reduction. This preliminary positioning ensures effectiveness while maintaining minimally invasive access
3Object-affected harmful factors
If percutaneous delivery of constriction elements is used, then invasiveness is reduced, but precision in targeting specific lung regions may be challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces complex mechanical surgical navigation systems with image-guided percutaneous delivery systems. Imaging modalities such as fluoroscopy, CT, or ultrasound are used to guide the delivery catheter and constriction elements to the precise target location within the lung. This substitution of mechanical guidance with imaging guidance maintains minimally invasive access while achieving high targeting precision for specific emphysematous regions
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses imaging systems as intermediaries to bridge the gap between percutaneous access and precise target localization. The imaging modality serves as an intermediary guide that provides real-time or pre-procedural visualization of the target lung region, enabling accurate navigation of the delivery system through the skin and into the specific diseased area without requiring open surgical exposure
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 system minimizes invasive procedures' complications by effectively reducing diseased lung tissue volume, improving healthy tissue functioning and oxygen exchange efficiency, while being suitable for patients unsuitable for traditional surgery.
Implementation Method 1
a constriction element deployable from the distal end of the delivery element to apply compressive force to an external surface of the target portion of the lung to constrict at least one airway therein and collapse the target portion of the lung
Data Source
AI summary
A lung volume reduction system includes a percutaneously, laparoscopically or thorocospically insertable delivery element comprising a control end which remains outside the body and an insertion end which, when in an operative position, is adjacent to an external surface of a target portion of a lung and a constriction element deployable from the distal end of the delivery element to apply compressive force to an external surface of the target portion of the lung to constrict at least one airway therein and collapse the target portion of the lung.