Mesh Blood Flow Line for Flexible Heart Support Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing heart support systems face challenges in achieving a reliable and flexible connection for conducting blood flow, particularly in long-term applications where stability and adaptability are crucial.
Innovation Solution
A line device with a mesh section formed from at least one mesh wire, providing a flexible and adjustable ratio of flexibility and stiffness, is introduced. This device includes attachment sections for connecting to the heart support system components and an inlet section for blood flow introduction, allowing for transfemoral surgery and improved flow properties.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a rigid tube structure is used for conducting blood flow, then structural stability is improved, but flexibility and ability to navigate through blood vessels deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The tube is divided into multiple sections with different properties: a rigid section for structural stability and a flexible section for navigating blood vessels. The rigid section contains the mesh structure for stability, while the flexible section allows bending and adaptation to vessel geometry, resolving the contradiction between stability and flexibility through spatial segmentation of functional zones.
Solution Approach 2:
The tube employs a composite structure combining a mesh section (providing rigidity and stability) with a flexible tube section (providing adaptability). This composite design integrates materials with different mechanical properties to simultaneously achieve both structural stability and flexibility required for different functional requirements of the heart support system.
2Ease of operation
If the line device is made highly flexible for transfemoral surgery, then ease of implantation is improved, but structural stability and reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The line device is segmented into a flexible section for easy navigation through the body during implantation and a rigid section with mesh structure for reliable structural support during operation. This segmentation allows the device to be easily implanted through transfemoral access while maintaining structural reliability when deployed in the heart.
Solution Approach 2:
Different sections of the line device have different mechanical qualities: the section requiring flexibility for implantation has enhanced flexibility properties, while the section requiring stability during operation has enhanced rigidity properties. This local differentiation of quality allows the device to optimize performance for each specific functional requirement along its length.
3Strength
If the mesh structure is made denser for increased stability, then structural strength is improved, but flexibility and blood flow conductibility deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The mesh structure is implemented locally in specific sections where structural strength is required, rather than throughout the entire device. The mesh density and configuration are optimized locally to provide necessary strength while maintaining flexibility in other sections, resolving the contradiction between structural strength and flexibility through spatial optimization of mesh properties.
Solution Approach 2:
The device combines a mesh structure (providing strength) with flexible tube material (providing flexibility and flow conductibility). This composite construction allows the mesh to provide localized structural reinforcement without compromising the overall flexibility and blood flow conductibility of the flexible tube sections, achieving both strength and adaptability simultaneously.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to a line device (105) for conducting a blood flow for a heart support system. The heart support system has a head unit and an outlet unit. The line device (105) has a main part (205). The main part (205) has, at a first end, a first attachment section (210) for attaching the line device (105) to the head unit and, at a second end, a second attachment section (215) for attaching the line device (105) to the outlet unit. Furthermore, the main part (205) has a mesh section (220) between the attachment sections (210, 215), wherein the mesh section (220) has a mesh structure (230) formed from at least one mesh wire (225). In addition, the main part (205) has an inlet section (235), arranged in the first attachment section (210), for introducing the blood flow into the main part (205).