Mitral Valve Displacement Augments Heart Pumping
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current treatments for heart failure, such as total artificial hearts and left ventricle assist devices, require major open heart surgery and involve the implantation of large foreign materials, which are invasive, costly, and have limited durability, making them unsuitable for long-term use and minimally invasive procedures.
Innovation Solution
A device and method that enhance left ventricular pump function by using a displacement unit to controllably move the mitral valve along the long axis of the left ventricle, synchronizing with the cardiac cycle, thereby augmenting the natural pumping action without the need for major surgery and minimizing foreign material implantation, utilizing catheter-based technology to deploy the system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If total artificial heart or left ventricle assist devices are used to treat heart failure, then heart function is enhanced, but major open heart surgery and large foreign material implantation are required
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts only the essential function of heart pumping by using a small catheter-based displacement unit that targets specifically the mitral valve, rather than replacing the entire heart or implanting large assist devices. This selective approach achieves heart function enhancement while minimizing foreign material implantation and surgical invasiveness.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces complex mechanical heart replacement systems with a simpler catheter-based displacement unit that uses controlled mechanical displacement of the mitral valve to achieve pumping function. This substitution reduces the need for major surgery and large foreign materials while maintaining effective heart function enhancement.
2Productivity
If conventional heart assist devices are implanted, then pump function is improved, but device complexity and surgical invasiveness increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the heart pumping function by focusing only on the mitral valve displacement mechanism rather than replacing the entire heart system. This segmentation allows for a simpler, less invasive device that achieves effective pump function enhancement without the complexity of total artificial hearts or large LVADs.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention introduces a catheter-based displacement unit as an intermediary device that can be delivered through minimal invasive catheter techniques rather than requiring major open heart surgery. This intermediary approach simplifies the implantation process and reduces surgical invasiveness while maintaining effective pump function improvement.
3Strength
If large foreign materials are implanted for heart support, then structural support is provided, but durability and long-term use are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses a flexible catheter-based displacement unit that can be advanced through the vascular system and positioned at the mitral valve. This thin-film approach provides sufficient structural support for heart function enhancement without requiring large foreign materials, thereby improving durability and enabling long-term use.
Data Source
AI summary
A device, a kit and a method are presented for permanently augmenting the pump function of the left heart. The basis for the presented innovation is an augmentation of the physiologically up and down movement of the mitral valve during each heart cycle. By means of catheter technique, minimal surgery, or open-heart surgery implants are inserted into the left ventricle, the mitral valve annulus, the left atrium and adjacent tissue in order to augment the natural up and down movement of the mitral valve and thereby increasing the left ventricular diastolic filling and the piston effect of the closed mitral valve when moving towards the apex of said heart in systole and/or away from said apex in diastole.