Lung Volume Reduction via Blood Flow Occlusion

The patent replaces the mechanical surgical resection system with a chemical/biological system. Instead of physically removing lung tissue through surgery, the invention uses administered agents (such as bleomycin or other fibrotic-inducing substances) to selectively cause fibrosis and collapse of diseased lung regions, achieving volume reduction without mechanical intervention. This substitution fundamentally eliminates surgical invasiveness while maintaining therapeutic efficacy.

The patent introduces chemical intermediaries (pharmacological agents) that mediate the lung volume reduction process. These agents are administered systemically or locally and act as intermediaries between the physician's intent and the desired physiological outcome. The agents selectively target diseased lung tissue, inducing controlled fibrosis and atelectasis, thereby serving as a non-invasive mediator that replaces direct surgical manipulation.

The patent inverts the conventional approach of blocking airways to reduce lung volume. Instead of occluding air passages, the invention induces fibrosis and parenchymal collapse from the inside out, causing the lung tissue itself to shrink and close off airways secondarily. This inverted mechanism ensures that volume reduction occurs through tissue remodeling rather than airway occlusion, thereby preventing collateral airflow from compensating for the treatment.

The patent changes the fundamental parameter of lung volume reduction from airway pressure-based occlusion to tissue structural transformation. By administering agents that alter the physical and biochemical parameters of lung parenchyma (inducing fibrosis, changing tissue elasticity, promoting collapse), the treatment achieves volume reduction through parameter changes in the tissue itself rather than through mechanical airway blocking, thereby overcoming the limitation of collateral airflow pathways.