Mitral Valve Loading Tool with Variable Diameter Lumen
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for delivering collapsible prosthetic heart valves are invasive and require complex procedures, lacking efficient tools for loading and deploying these valves into delivery devices effectively.
Innovation Solution
A loading tool and delivery device system that includes a body with lumens of varying diameters and a slot mechanism for aligning and securing the valve, allowing for the efficient loading and deployment of collapsible prosthetic heart valves into a delivery device, enabling minimally invasive procedures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If collapsible prosthetic heart valves are delivered through catheters or trocar, then invasiveness is reduced, but the complexity of loading and deploying the valve increases
Solution Approach 1:
The delivery device is divided into distinct functional segments: an outer sheath for containing the collapsed valve, an inner sheath for pushing the valve during deployment, and a retaining element with recesses for securing the valve retainers. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function efficiently, simplifying the overall loading and deploying process despite the minimally invasive approach
Solution Approach 2:
The collapsed prosthetic valve is nested within the outer sheath, which itself is contained within the delivery device. The inner sheath can be inserted within the outer sheath to push the valve during deployment. This nested configuration allows the large-valve-to-be-delivered to be transported through small catheters while maintaining organized control over the deployment sequence
2Volume of moving object
If the valve is collapsed to reduce circumferential size for delivery, then the valve can be delivered less invasively, but the process of collapsing and re-expanding the valve becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The prosthetic valve is pre-assembled with retainers attached to its stent structure before delivery. The retaining element with pre-formed recesses is prepared in advance on the delivery device. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for complex assembly operations during the procedure, reducing the overall process complexity despite the size transformation requirements
Solution Approach 2:
The inner sheath acts as an intermediary tool that pushes the collapsed valve during deployment without requiring direct manipulation of the valve structure itself. The outer sheath serves as another intermediary that contains and protects the collapsed valve during delivery. These intermediary components simplify the collapsing and re-expanding process by providing controlled mechanical interaction
3Reliability
If a retaining element with multiple recesses is used to secure valve retainers, then the valve is securely held during delivery, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The retaining element features multiple identical recesses distributed circumferentially around its perimeter, each with the same geometry and function. This homogeneous design provides uniform retention security at multiple locations while maintaining a simple, repetitive structure that is easier to manufacture and assemble compared to complex asymmetric retention mechanisms
Data Source
AI summary
A loading tool for loading a collapsible prosthetic heart valve into a delivery device may include a body extending in a longitudinal direction between a proximal end and a distal end, an extension on the distal end of the body, and a slot extending through the extension from a free end of the extension toward the distal end of the body. The body may include a lumen extending between the proximal end and the distal end, the body lumen having a first diameter. The extension may have a lumen coaxial with the body lumen, the extension lumen having a second diameter less than the first diameter so as to define a shelf surface between the proximal end of the body and the free end of the extension.