Memory Metal Clot Retrieval Basket Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current intravascular thrombus and foreign body removal devices are ineffective in removing organized hard thrombi, often causing embolization and requiring proximal vessel occlusion, which can lead to further ischemia and vessel injury.
Innovation Solution
A deployable system comprising a pull wire with a distal body having memory metal strips that expand to encase and dislodge clots, allowing for retrieval without proximal occlusion, featuring a claw-like mechanism to securely capture and remove obstructions from blood vessels.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If currently available thrombus removal devices are used, then the device can be deployed in the vessel, but the device fails to dislodge strongly adherent thrombus from the vessel wall and often causes embolization
Solution Approach 1:
The distal body is segmented into multiple memory metal strips that can independently expand and conform to the vessel wall, allowing each strip to engage with the thrombus separately and dislodge it without causing embolization
Solution Approach 2:
The memory metal strips change their physical state from a compressed configuration during delivery to an expanded configuration at the treatment site, enabling them to exert force on the thrombus and dislodge it from the vessel wall without causing embolization
2Ease of operation
If proximal vessel occlusion is used to retrieve the device, then the device can be securely held, but the risk of further ischemia and vessel injury increases
Solution Approach 1:
The device is extracted from the vessel through distal manipulation rather than requiring proximal occlusion, allowing the microcatheter to be pulled back through the clot while the distal body remains engaged, thereby avoiding further ischemia and vessel injury
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of occluding the proximal vessel to retrieve the device, the invention inverts the approach by manipulating the device from the distal end, allowing retrieval without proximal occlusion and thus avoiding further ischemia and vessel injury
3Adaptability or versatility
If the device is made small and flexible to navigate tortuous vessels, then the device can reach the occlusion site, but the device may not be strong enough to dislodge strongly adherent thrombus
Solution Approach 1:
The device transitions from a flexible, compressed state during navigation to a rigid, expanded state at the treatment site, allowing it to navigate tortuous vessels and then exert sufficient force to dislodge strongly adherent thrombus
Solution Approach 2:
The memory metal strips are designed as flexible elements that can conform to the vessel wall during navigation and then expand to provide structural strength for thrombus dislodgement, combining flexibility with strength
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 effectively removes hard clots without embolization and allows for safe, timely retrieval without the need for proximal vessel occlusion, reducing the risk of ischemia and vessel injury.
Implementation Method 1
a distal body having memory metal strips that expand to encase and dislodge clots
Implementation Method 2
The distal body has a relaxed state wherein the distal body has a first height and width and a collapsed state wherein the distal body has a second height less than the first height and a second width less than the first width
Data Source
AI summary
A platform of devices for removing obstructions and other objects within a blood vessel or other interior lumen of an animal is provided. The system may be deployed in the lumen from a catheter(s) and the system includes a proximal hub, and a distal basket comprised of a plurality of cells. A number of different baskets designs are disclosed. Methods of manufacturing such baskets out of a single tube of a memory metal without the need for any welding or soldering, and methods of use are also disclosed.