Modular Organ Perfusion Kit with Keyed Sterile Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current organ perfusion apparatuses face challenges in maintaining organ viability during storage and transport, particularly in reducing ischemia and reperfusion injury, and require flexible and sterile handling solutions to accommodate various organ sizes and shapes.
Innovation Solution
A portable organ perfusion apparatus with a disposable component kit that includes a basin and cradle system, where the cradle is designed to fit within the basin in a single predetermined orientation, ensuring thermal conduction and sterility, and includes adjustable straps for secure organ holding, along with a coolant container for temperature control, allowing for efficient perfusion and transport of organs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If the organ is placed in a cassette within a cooling compartment with mated walls for heat transfer, then thermal conduction and cooling efficiency are improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of assembly increase
Solution Approach 1:
The organ transport system is divided into separate modular components: an outer container with cooling compartment, an intermediate cassette, and an inner cradle. These segments can be assembled and disassembled independently, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining thermal conduction efficiency through designed contact surfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The cassette serves as an intermediary component between the outer container and inner cradle. It provides a standardized interface that simplifies assembly while ensuring proper thermal contact through its mated wall configuration with the cooling compartment.
2Stability of the object's composition
If the cradle, cassette, and container are keyed to fit together in a single predetermined orientation, then thermal conduction and orientation control are improved, but the ease of operation and flexibility decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle, cassette, and container incorporate asymmetric keying features including protrusions and recesses that define a single predetermined orientation. This asymmetric design ensures proper alignment and thermal contact while the modular nature allows straightforward assembly in the correct orientation without complex mechanisms.
3Reliability
If disposable sterile components are used for the cradle and basin, then sterility and reliability are improved, but the loss of substance and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle and basin are designed as disposable sterile components that are discarded after single use. This eliminates the need for complex sterilization and cleaning processes, ensuring reliability and sterility while the components are designed to be cost-effective for single-use applications.
Solution Approach 2:
The disposable components are discarded after use rather than being sterilized and reused. The outer container and cooling compartment, which are more expensive and not contaminated, are recovered and reused, optimizing the balance between sterility requirements and resource utilization.
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 apparatus effectively maintains organ viability by reducing ischemia and reperfusion injury through efficient cooling and perfusion, while ensuring sterility and flexibility in handling and transport, accommodating various organ sizes and shapes with disposable components that prevent contamination.
Implementation Method 1
the walls of the cassette mate with a corresponding configuration of an inner transporter wall to maintain contact, and thus heat transfer, therebetween
Data Source
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AI summary
A perfusion apparatus includes a coolant container (50) having a basin-receiving recess (50a), a basin (30) that is shaped to fit within the basin-receiving recess; and a cradle (60) that is shaped to accept an organ and fit within the basin. The basin-receiving recess of the coolant container, the basin and the cradle each have positioning elements that are oriented such that the cradle is keyed to fit within the basin and the basin is keyed to fit within the coolant container, each in a single predetermined orientation. In particular, the basin may include a plurality of protrusions on an outer surface of the basin, which are configured to be inserted into recesses (51, 52) formed in the coolant container, and the cradle may include a plurality of protrusions (61) configured to fit within corresponding recesses (31) in the basin.