Modified Prosthetic Heart Valve Stent for Conduction Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Expandable prosthetic heart valve stents have the potential to impinge on the heart's electrical conduction system during deployment, causing functional interference.
Innovation Solution
A prosthetic heart valve with an expandable stent that features a modified region with shallower bends or missing rows of struts to reduce expansion in the area adjacent to the conduction system, ensuring asymmetric expansion to minimize impact on the heart's electrical conduction system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the stent is expanded radially outward uniformly around the entire circumference, then the prosthetic valve is securely anchored in the aortic annulus, but the conduction system of the heart may be impinged upon and its function affected
Solution Approach 1:
The stent is designed with a modified region that has different expansion characteristics compared to the remainder of the circumference. Specifically, the modified region has shallower bends or missing rows of struts, causing it to expand radially outward a smaller distance. This local differentiation allows the stent to maintain secure anchoring overall while specifically protecting the conduction system region from impingement.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent transitions from a symmetric uniform expansion design to an asymmetric design with a modified region. The asymmetric pattern of struts creates differential expansion zones where the modified region expands less than the remainder of the circumference, strategically positioning reduced expansion pressure away from the conduction system while maintaining adequate anchoring force in other regions.
2Strength
If the stent struts are made with deeper bends to increase radial expansion, then the anchoring force is improved, but the risk of mechanical injury to the conduction system increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the stent have different strut bend characteristics. The modified region has shallower bends that limit radial expansion and reduce mechanical injury risk to the conduction system, while the remainder of the circumference maintains deeper bends that provide adequate anchoring force. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between strength and harm prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The stent is segmented into functionally distinct zones: a modified region with shallower bends for conduction system protection and a remainder region with deeper bends for anchoring. This segmentation allows each zone to optimize its performance for its specific function, with the pattern of interconnected struts creating the segmented expansion behavior.
Data Source
AI summary
A prosthetic heart valve having an expandable stent modified to reduce the impact on the adjacent conduction system of the heart. A plurality of flexible leaflets arranged to close together along a flow axis through the valve prevent blood flow in one direction, and a support frame surrounds and supports the leaflets. The stent is defined by a plurality of connected struts arranged around a circumference. A pattern of the struts is consistent around the circumference except in a modified region on one side so that when converted to the expanded configuration the stent on the one side expands radially outward a smaller distance and/or has larger cells defined between the struts than around a remainder of the circumference. The stent may be connected to a non-collapsible valve member or the entire valve may be expandable. The valve may be for implant at the aortic annulus and the modified region may be centered at a commissure post of the support frame.